A good deal of time has passed since I
last made an entry into this blog. During much of the time we were
not on the boat, but were visiting family up north. We had great
visits friends, with my sisters, Sandra's sisters and our daughters
and their families including our three grandsons. One of Sandra's
sisters made the trip south to spend nearly a week with us on the
boat in Vero Beach...great visit.
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| Saying "Good-by" to Vero as the sun rises |
After we returned from all our
visiting, we decided that once we got into October, we'd begin
thinking about heading back south to Marathon. After a couple of
attempts which got delayed due to weather and other issues, we
finally made the move this past Monday. Given our lengthy period
without traveling by boat, our first day was less than perfect, due
to human error. Nothing serious, and we always try to learn from our
mistakes. We had hoped to spend the night in a quiet anchorage off
the ICW at a state park. The anchorage is misnamed Peck Lake. It's
really not a lake – just a wide spot in the waterway. But it was
closed to us due to a dredging operation. We found another good spot
a bit further south and enjoyed a pleasant evening.
The next day we kept moving south, this
time to Lake Worth – another area misnamed. It's a wide swath of
salty to brackish water between the barrier island and the mainland.
We anchored by the West Palm Beach city docks that made it possible
for us to go ashore and walk a bit in downtown WPB. Across “Lake
Worth” is Palm Beach, home of many of the rich and famous. Of
course this group is hardly limited to Palm Beach. From Vero Beach
south we've seen ample evidence of wealth equal to or exceeding that
of Palm Beach. And as I've mentioned in earlier blog entries, this
evidence of conspicuous consumption extends all the way to Maimi and
beyond.
The day we traveled south from WPB to
Ft. Lauderdale could be described as a day of bridge openings.
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| A bascule bridge in the open position |
Of course, like all mechanical
contraptions, these bridges require maintenance from time to time or
upgrades. Some even require replacement. On this particular trip we
were surprised by the number of bridges being worked on while we
passed. In a couple of cases, this work required adjustment to their
schedule. For those who might be heading through the area this fall
or winter, you might want to note that the Royal Park Bridge and
Southern Blvd Bridge, both in Lake Worth, open 15 minutes later than
normal. Not far south of these, the Lantana Bridge is undergoing a
rebuilding. There is no bridge tender (the person you talk to about
opening the bridge). The work crew must manually work the controls to
open. They don't seem to have a schedule but will make plans to open
it when called upon to do so. In our case, they first reported that
they would get it open in an hour which stretched to an additional
half hour before we could pass. Then there is the Las Olas Blvd
Bridge in Ft. Lauderdale which now opens only once at 15 minutes past
the hour instead of the normal every half hour. The remaining bridges
opened as scheduled although in one case only one span opened. There
was still enough room, but we had to be careful to keep the mast in
the middle of the smaller opening.
Then there was a bridge just north of
Miami that closed off traffic at the appointed time and then must
have been distracted. A few minutes later, he let the traffic pass
over the bridge again without ever opening it. He did see the error
of his ways thanks to a phone call from the next bridge tender. He
then promptly opened the bridge to allow my passage. That next
bridge tender then delayed is opening till I got there – very nice
of him.
My final message to those who might
follow our path this fall relates to a stretch of water just after
the Bakers Haulover Inlet. There's been a bit of shoaling there,
nothing new I guess. But this year it has gotten worse. I read about
others who had run aground there when passing at low tide who also
mentioned where the water was particularly skinny. Based on that, I
arranged to pass through the area two hours prior to low tide. It
wasn't soon enough as it turned out. I still managed to find the
bottom. There was a handy tow boat ready to help at a high cost. I
chose rather to call TowBoatUS with whom I have insurance to cover
such problems. He came quickly, and we were once again on our way.
Another sailboat traveling the other direction quickly went aground
also. I think he may have paid the price and also got off quickly.
In the future, I'll not pass that way unless it's at high tide.
So as this is written, we are enjoying
a little quiet time anchored near South Beach in Miami. We've already
been ashore to visit a grocery store (several are within easy walking
distance). We'll get some fresh water and do a little people watching
in an interesting city. We took a couple of photos here. The first is
a night scene of Miami. The building most lighted at the time of the
photo was using the lights to create a video of a woman dancing. The
photo may not show that clearly. The second shows what happens when
plans go wrong...or perhaps when planning was not done as thoroughly
as needed. This truck, at a boat launch ramp, had a trailer
attached, though at the moment still invisible.
Finally, I've included one of Sandra's
latest basket creations. She is still busy at this craft and is
doing some oil painting. Perhaps I'll include one of her works in a
blog at some point.
Carpe Diem
Captain Bob
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