Wednesday 30 April 2008

Fort Lauderdale

Fort Lauderdale is known for its spring break partying. From what we found, it seems to live up to this reputation year round.

We spent the first few days at Lake Sylvia. It was nice because it was quiet, with the exception of the weekend parties (see photo). However, we found that it was difficult to find somewhere to land the dinghy as the area is surrounded by private properties. One option was to take the dinghy down two different canals and to cross the ICW in order to tie up at a restaurant. We only did that once - picture crossing a busy waterway with large power boats motoring through in a small inflatable rubber dinghy! It was akin to crossing a busy highway on a bicycle - quite a hair-raising experience, not to mention a wet one, as we got soaked by the wakes from the large boats.

On Tuesday, we moved from Lake Sylvia to Cooley's Landing Marina in order to be able to get to shore more easily and to allow us to do laundry and fill up with water before we left for the Bahamas. Cooley's Landing Marina is in the downtown area of Fort Lauderdale, which is actually a good distance from the beach and main cruise ship harbour, but it is right in an entertainmant district. Just down from the marina is an area called the Riverfront (along the New River) which is filled with restaurants and bars.

One evening we decided to have dinner at one of the restaurants at the Riverfront. It was still early, so after dinner we hung out watching life go by and were surprised to see a fair number of Navy personnel (in uniforms) coming into the restaurant. It turns out that this was Fleet Week in Fort Lauderdale, where several Navy ships were in town with lots of events arranged for the crews to thank them for their duty to their country. We ended up talking to some of the female officers from the USS Iwo Jima and had a great evening with them. We also ran into a gentleman there in a Canadian Navy uniform - it turns out he was a Navy chaplain who happened to be with the American fleet on a chaplain-exchange program!

On another day, we headed over to the ocean side to see what the famous Fort Lauderdale beach was like - the beach where "spring break happens". When we arrived, we were surprised at how low to the water some helicopers were flying near the beach. Shortly after that we heard, then saw why - there was a cigarette boat race going on right in front of the beach! It was so loud from the boat engines that we had to raise our voices to talk to each other. The helicopers were following the leaders, but they were so close to them that it looked like they were getting spray from the boats. The boats themselves looked crazy, too, both from the speed and from the fact that they were flying out of the water as they were jumping off of waves (it was rough out on the ocean). Other than the cigarette boats, the beach was pretty much what we had expected - lots of people out strutting their stuff and sunbathing.

Later that evening we headed out to the Las Olas wine and food show. Las Olas is a shopping street which isn't far from Cooley's. The wine and food show was held right on the street and was open to anyone to walk through (you needed to buy wrist bands to sample the food & wine). It was really neat to be at an outdoor wine and food show on a balmy evening! Afterwards, we didn't really feel like going home so we ended up at a night club at the Riverfront - what an interesting place. It had an Arabian theme with lots of seating and posh beds (!) to lounge on. People were smoking bongs while multiple DJs played hip hop music in several connected rooms. The crowd was quite young. Definitely an experience.

Two nights later we found the bar strip just two blocks away from the marina with clubs frequented by the "older" generation. Each side of the street has a sidewalk which is lined with outdoor tables where you can be served drinks (open alcohol on the street seemed ok in Fort Lauderdale). There were people in the bars, but many were out on the street, so we grabbed a table and watched people walk by. We noticed that a large number of the women appeared to have breast implants, many of them so large as to be extreme. Must be the beach culture.

On Sunday, we left Cooley's to go back to Lake Sylvia in order to be closer to the ocean inlet for the start of our trip to the Bahamas. As expected, there were lots of local boats anchored in the lake for a day of partying. One group consisted of at least eight power boats rafted up together, essentially creating a floating island.


Lake Sylvia on the weekend


Geoff with senior officers from the USS Iwo Jima


7th Ave Bridge in Fort Lauderdale


Fort Lauderdale Beach


Fort Lauderdale Beach


Cigarette boat racing on Fort Lauderdale Beach


Fort Lauderdale Night Life


The busy ICW through Fort Lauderdale


The busy ICW through Fort Lauderdale

Friday 25 April 2008

Goodbye Vero Beach

After spending two and a half months in Vero Beach, we finally felt ready to leave last Thursday.

Thursday morning we left saying goodbyes to friends, the majority of whom are heading north at this time of year. We were travelling alone again, for the first time in quite a while. Much to our surprise, later on on Thursday we were passed by a trawler with a couple we knew from Vero Beach. We ended up anchoring in a place called Manatee Pocket with them, and the four of us spent a nice evening at a local restaurant. The restaurant had the usual happy hour, but with a twist: free appetizers, which for cruisers means free dinner - what a great find!

Friday we continued our trip down the ICW to Lake Worth. We had yet another beautiful sunny day. This was also the first day we had to deal with large numbers of careless motor boats. The power boaters on this section of the ICW are very rude, passing about as close as possible without reducing speed, and really rocking our boat with large waves. We even got spray into the cockpit from a few!

Saturday we decided to travel "outside" on the ocean along the coast down to Fort Lauderdale rather than on the ICW. We had been warned that the ICW is just insane with power boating traffic on weekends. Being out on the ocean brought its own challenges, however. It was a rough ride as we had the wind and waves on the beam (from the side) with seas of about four feet.

The last (and first) time we entered the Port Everglades harbour in Fort Lauderdale was on the cruise ship we spent a week's vacation on two years ago. At that time, we hadn't bought Geru yet, but we were beginning to dream about and plan for our adventure. Arriving in Fort Lauderdale this time felt great, both to be out of the uncomfortable seas and to be entering Port Everglades on our own boat.

We anchored for the night in Lake Sylvia surrounded by mega-mansions. The anchorage lies in the middle of one of the most expensive neighbourhoods of Fort Lauderdale. Certainly a change from the natural mangrove islands we were surrounded by at Vero Beach!



Leaving Vero Beach (marina is behind the bridge)


A gated community on the ICW (gated from the water side too!)

Sunday 20 April 2008

The Last Two and a Half Months

Vero Beach turned out to be our provisioning, dental care, and upgrade harbour. We (especially Geoff) spent much time installing equipment - an additional solar panel, new batteries, the autopilot which we have carried with us in a box since Ottawa, pieces of the floor, and new winches, just to name a few. Time was also spent provisioning the boat with food that will be harder (or much more expensive) to get once we are in the islands. Geoff was also able to get his root canal done and now has a crown on his tooth as well. During our time in Vero we have learned that things take much longer on a boat than they would ashore - if you think it will take a day to install something, it will take at least twice that, and if you go shopping for food one day, expect another to get it all put away on the boat.

Our time in Vero Beach was also filled with wildlife around the boat. Ruth particularly enjoyed the pelicans diving for fish around the mangrove island behind our mooring. Other wildlife included lots of dolphins, a very friendly manatee that seemed to be quite curious about our boat, and numerous wading birds.

Ruth: I would like to thank all of you who have sent me e-mails or otherwise expressed your condolences and offered your support over the last few weeks. It has meant a lot to me.



Ruth figuring out the medical kit


Vero Beach bus drivers


New solar panel (195 Watts)


All this for four bolts! (to install the solar panel)


Carrying our provisions back to the boat


Okay, now let's put it all away...


View of the ICW south from the Vero Beach bridge

Saturday 19 April 2008

More Photos from Vero


Some of the wildlife we saw - a heron fishing by the mangroves


Ruth getting used to going up the mast


View of the back deck and Ruth (and Geoff's foot)


View of the deck before we added the extra solar panel


View of Vero Beach from half way up the mast


Vero Beach mooring field


Vero Beach mooring field


Cruisers' potluck dinner

Monday 7 April 2008

Still in Vero Beach

It's been a while since we have posted so we thought we'd better give an update to let you know what's going on.

We are still in Vero Beach, Florida. We are hoping to leave here later this week or early next week. The plan is to head farther down the coast towards Miami, then to cross the Gulf Stream on a good weather window to the Bahamas. As for exact dates: as the cruisers say, our plans are set in jello, and the jello isn't set!

The last month or so has been spent installing equipment and provisioning before leaving the US. It has been very busy (hence the lack of posts). Once we've got that work finished, we will hopefully be able to get back to filling in the missing posts and update everyone on the past two months (has it really been that long?).