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!)
