Decreased winds?

The first few pictures are from our time in Ft. Lauderdale exploring by dinghy while we could.  Actually they are all from a 17 mile dinghy ride we took.

Okay, can't say we ever saw one of these before.

If you ever wonder how vehicles get overseas.  Look closely in the middle.



We do believe this to be the largest private vessel we have ever seen.  Notice the three story building beside it.

Leaving the New River.

We got things accomplished while waiting out the winds in Ft. Lauderdale, like taking Spike to the vet to get his overdue teeth cleaning.  That was an adventure in itself with a two day ordeal via bicycle, and of course it would rain almost every time.  Nevertheless, we finally left the New River this morning around 7:00 a.m. under the premise that the winds were decreased a whole five miles per hour.  We figured if we did not leave soon, we might never get out of there with these incessant winds.  It was a fairly uneventful cruise through Miami with a couple of bridges needing to be opened for us.  One of them was the Broad Causeway Bridge in which only the west span of the bascule bridge was able to be raised.  It looked narrow to us and mentioned how it must be for larger vessels.We were pleased with Biscayne Bay.  It was predicted to be a light to moderate chop.  If this was a moderate chop, I'll take it.  It was not bad at all with almost a following sea on the stern quarter.
It was during this time that I got a text saying they were glad they saw on our Spot tracker that we were through the Broad Causeway Bridge.  Come to find out, yesterday the large motor yacht "Rockstar" that we saw being towed out of the New River while we went on a beer run via bicycle between rains, had the east span of that bridge fall on it while it was being towed through!  You can probably get that $20 million yacht at a discounted price now.  If you are real interested, you can probably find this story on Yahoo.
Anyway, we continued on to Boca Chita.  Once again one of our favorite spots that we got introduced to last spring.  It is a National Park that was previously intended to be a private island for a wealthy entrepreneur back in the 1920's until his wife was injured on the island and died as a result.  Therefore, the only things on the island are the basin which can probably hold at least 30 boats tied to the wall with plenty of cleats, a decorative rock wall, a pavilion that was to entertain guests on original plans, a lighthouse, a maintenance building (as they keep the grounds nicely manicured), picnic tables, charcoal grills, and restrooms with no sinks.  There is no water available on the island except to flush the toilets.  It seems so surreal to be so primitive, yet so close to Miami.


"Lady J"

Upon our arrival there was one sailing catamaran already there, "Lady J", whom we have passed recently.  There was another sailing catamaran of the same kind anchored outside of the park when we arrived, but came and tied up soon after our arrival.  Just before dark, a fourth vessel came into the harbor, also being a Silverton.  Thought that was kind of ironic to have two pairs of the same boats.  After dark a small run about came and spent the night also.

Boca Chita sunset