Further South I Go!

SHIP'S LOG:

Tuesday's location: 26' 13.277 N/ 080' 05.720W

Tuesday's trip down from Lake Worth wasn't a LONG trip but it was tiring. In 37 miles I had to go through 16 bascule bridges, one of which wasn't on the charts and wasn't in the cruising guides. That one was the Palmetto Bridge which is just north of Bocca Raton and around a corner. Had I been in a tall power boat, ignoring the speed restrictions as most do, I would have come around the corner and hit it! There is something good to say about not being fast.

One of the bridges decided to have electrical problems(Lake Avenue)and I had to bob around for a good hour while they go it fixed, though I did get through eventually. Basically however, I had to wait at least 15 minutes at each bridge which made for a long day. I got away at 8:30am but didn't drop a hook until 5:30pm. Like I said, a long day.

I have been trying to come up with a way to describe the houses down here. Some are tastefully done though most are not. They are obviously expensive undertakings, but whoever has undertaken them has no concept of taste. Not that that seems to matter much to the architects or interior and exterior designers nor the grounds crew. The best that I can come up with to describe the architectural barbarities that I have seen is to describe the whole genre as "A painting of Elvis on Black Velvet!" It sort of looks good but not quite and it definitely ain't worth the money they have spent. Going by one house that was almost complete, there was a sign out from from the builders saying, "You dream it, We build it." The person who ordered that house obviously had a nightmare!

Dropped the hook in Lettuce "Lake." At one time it might actually been a lake, but the ICW goes right through it so only a small part of it remains. The shore has looks of houses, cheek by jowl, and Tuesday night they all had chimas(?) ablaze and everyone sitting around them trying to stay war. I was only wearing shorts and trying to get cool. Things are not quite right with the people down here.

Wednesday's trip was to beautiful Fort Launderdale - The Yachting Capital of the World. Yeah, right! My first exposure to Fort Lauderdale was to run into the problem that has the boating industry down here in turmoil. Abandoned boats - some sunken others just disasters above water and in some cases people living on what you could only call floating slums. I can understand what sticks in some people's craws over this. It really looks awful.

I also ran into the phenomenon of "Flying Manta Rays. Man, they just pop out of the water and crash back in and some are rather large.The first one scared the living daylights out of me because he is equiped as they are with a stinger. Remember it was how the came up maybe five feet from the bat. I was wondering what to do if one made it on board, Crocodile Man died.

Getting into Fort Lauderdale, I began to run into huge boats, I mean private yachts the size of small ocean liners. I journeyed with "DELIVERANCE II" a floating fuel browser. Evidently when your boat gets big enough, they bring the fuel to you. Among the "GALLANT LADY"'s and the "LADY JANE" 's, there was one that stood out. Not quite as large or as grand as some but the name said it all - "SEA NILE!"

Went up the New River into downtown Fort Lauderdale and found the cheapest marina of the trip - under a buck a foot if you were a Boat/US member - The New River Municipal Marina. True you tie up to a wall that lines the New River, and not all their power stands work, but everything you need is right in walking distance.

I got reacquainted with the local insect life - the infamous "Palmetto Bug" - known to those of us in the north as cockroaches and they are big ones too. Thankfully, the Geckos keep their numbers down.

A front moved in on Thursday and it is raining on and off. Friday is supposed to be worse, but if it is not, I will head for North Miami Beach. It is just past 7:30 and humid with the temperature of 71. O, the suffering!