Delray Beach to Ft. Lauderdale, FL

We were up early, eager to get on down to Fort Lauderdale. We had a relaxing morning, reading and making final plans for the day.  After checking the engine room and returning an electrical adapter we had borrowed, we released our lines and cruised into the ICW on a calm  beautiful morning. 

Since there are so many bridges across the waterway they stagger the openings from hour to half-hour and then to fifteen and forty-five after the hour.  Slow boats will generally have a short wait. The spacing of the bridges required patience and timing to be able to pace ourselves to arrive at bridges with short waits before openings.  After a fast boat rushes to the next bridge for a 10 minute wait several times they soon recognize the value of slowing down.  We guess the local authorities planned it to help manage speed. 

There are many manatee protection (read speed zone) areas where boats are supposed to produce no wake.  Then there are zones where the maximum wake height is 18".  We actually observed a marine patrol boat sitting close to a concrete bulkhead and the officer was watching the wakes hit the wall measuring the height.  We have read the marine police are generous in giving out citations to those who do not observe the waterway rules. Development along the waterway is pretty much solid at this point and we imagine those home owners support the actions of the marine police. There are homes of every shape and size, low and high-rise condominiums and an occasional restaurant with dockage on the waterway.

As we headed toward the Ft. Lauderdale Sunrise Boulevard bridge we were anxious about missing the opening by just a few minutes and having to wait a half hour. We were bucking the current and wind and the small boat traffic was suddenly much heavier. To our Surprise, the bridge tender ahead must have been listening and knew we were coming his way as he called our boat by name on the radio and asked if we were going to make the opening on the hour. Joe replied that we were on our way and hoped to be there in time. Just as we rounded the bend at three minutes till the hour we were glad to see other boats waiting. I think the bridge tender delayed a little to give us time to get closer. We made it with seconds to spare and the bridge started going up. This put us less than two miles from our destination for the day, an anchorage and mooring field just south of the Las Olas Boulevard Bridge listed at thirty-one feet in height. No more bridge openings today.

We saw our anchorage but every boat there was on a mooring. There were only two spots left and it was twelve-thirty in the afternoon. We were glad we had gotten away from Delray Beach early. We picked our spot and secured the boat to the mooring. There was a good breeze for the south east which kept the boat cool. We put things away and had our lunch before going up on the bridge to relax and read for a while. Today is Super Bowl Sunday so after we checked in with the dock master we walked about four blocks to the beach with the intention of finding a nice sports bar with a big screen TV and watch part of the game. The temperature was about eighty degrees.  A cold beer and some air conditioning would be nice.

Within two block of the beach we came upon a sea of people. We were smack dab in the middle of the tacky tee shirt and beach paraphernalia shops. The fragrance of sun lotion assaulted us mixed with the odor of perspiration and beer. Oh, civilization! As we stood on the sidewalk overlooking the Fort Lauderdale Beach scene our sight moved to the horizon. What a beautiful scene. There were cruise ships disappearing to the east and sail boats as well as power boats running just off shore. Two huge commercial ships were anchored off shore. It was a beautiful sunny day and the water looked so blue, it made one feel good just being able to witness it all.

We took a walk south along the sidewalk and went to a restaurant recommended by our dock master. It was closed for a private party so we decided on a balcony restaurant overlooking the beach. This was part of the Marriott Hotel swimming pool area. We just sat there enjoying the day with a glass of wine and a few half price appetizers. Later we shared a hamburger before heading back to Surprise. The sunset was mostly obscured by the condo building behind the anchorage but not so much that we could not see the colors bouncing off the nearby clouds. What a lovely end to a wonderful day.

Next - At Ft. Lauderdale, FL