Bridges, bridges, and more bridges.

Captain's Log....

We had strong easterly winds all night and the marina we were in did not offer much protection.  We decided to head out and try our luck further down the coast even though the forecast was for more wind.  We left at 9AM, a little later than normal but we waited a little to see what the weather was going to do. 

Melissa does a great job of handling the fenders and lines.  Here she reflects on our last port of call as we head out for another day of voyage.

This was definitely the day of the bridge.  26 total.  Most of the bridges so far have been high enough we have not needed to ask for an opening.  Today was different as more than half were low enough (we have a 19 foot height) that we needed to wait for the bridge to open.  Some of the bridges open on signal (request), many of them have a set schedule like on the hour and half hour, or at the quarter and three quarter hour.

The second bridge we came to had not been opening on schedule as there was a marathon running with the event route over the bridge.  There were 18 boats waiting for the opening.  They were not happy.

We lucked out because of our later departure we came upon the bridge just as it was about to open.  But we did kind of come upon a hornets nest because some of the boaters were a little testy.

Then there was a caravan of boats all stacked up. 

Most of the motor boats outdistanced the sailboats but 6 of us motor boats ran together most of the day.  There were a couple of bridges we could sneak under but it did not do us any good as there was always another bridge we had to wait for and the other boats would catch up.

Missy did her usual great job of keeping track of where we were.  The waiting for openings delayed us to the point we had to change our evening destination and cut back about 7 miles from where we intended to go. 

We are at a swanky marina in Ft. Lauderdale and I swear we visited this very same area with the kids years ago during a trip down here.  It is very Deja Vu.  We treated ourselves to a nice dinner at a Mexican restaurant and checked out the local Starbucks for the morning. 

It is fascinating how different each day of the trip is.  Evey day something is significantly different.  Neither of us had any idea just what we were getting into but it has turned out to be quite the adventure.  Getting to Key West might be anticlimactic....we will see.

We still have to look at the weather to plan our next move but we will wait until morning for any decisions.

First Mate's Log.............

Interesting day on the water....lots of traffic...mostly friendly, although some hostility amongst those that want to party and those that are serious about fishing, oh well...diversity can be fun!
My photo montage this even is devoted to dinghys....those amazing little boaty thingys, I have entitle it "Dinghy's are doin' it...and then some!" These portable floating bath tubs can carry ten times their weight in supplies, people and pets. They are made of various materials and folks can find any number of ways to carry or tow them with their boats. We have also seen many style of dinghy driving....none that seem to require a license :)

covered dinghy

super secret dinghy

drivin' in fine dinghy style!

the hanging dinghy

the popular tow-a-dinghy

wow...look at that form!

basic dinghy

Dinghy Dock sign....who knew?

an exclusive dinghy dock

........and for Rae

Starfish (I know....really?)

Shamus