MARCH 17, 2009 “BACK IN THE STATES”

PICS
*NAN BEACHCOMBING IN BIMINI
*TARPON AT CITY DOCK
*SPACE SHUTTLE DISCOVERY LAUNCH
*17TH STREET DRAWBRIDGE
*SHIP AT SUNRISE LEAVING PORT EVERGLADES
*SHIPS TO DODGE

On Saturday morn at 7:00am we slipped over the white Bimini sandbar heading northwestward into the amazingly azure Gulf Stream with a bead on Fort Lauderdale. As the sun rose, the “forecasted” gentle southeast breeze of 5-10 knots filled in just like we anticipated to a brisk SE 15-20 knots . . . . NOAA is never right, that’s why you never leave on a forecasted 15-20 unless you’re prepared for gale force winds. You have to double everything, even the wave heights. Waves forecast as “less-than-2-feet” are not 10 feet tall from crest to trough! Not surprised, we had a rolly broad reach, but it wasn’t scary, and we were into Port Everglades and our slip on the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) by 3:45pm.

It was a great feeling being able to pull out the mothballed cell phone and hookup the broadband to the computer again. High priority was calling the kids. It was a bit of a culture shock and over-stimulation getting back to the Florida coast and seeing the kids . . . too many people, too many cars, lights, and the noise! It’s freaky, and a little more than disconcerting. Autumn drove up from Key West, and Spring, the boys, & Emily were happy to have us back safely.

The photos above show Nan doing her thing . . . a final sweep of the closest Bimini beach looking for sea glass for her art projects . . . great way to stay active. The five foot tarpon shot was taken ten feet from the boat on the dock in Fort Lauderdale. He was just relaxing in the tidal flow; I think I could have actually touched him.

On Sunday evening at exactly 7:43pm we got up into the cockpit to watch the space shuttle Discovery launch to our north. We were also watching from Bimini when the launch was cancelled a few days earlier. Wish they’d have waited just a little longer, we’re fifty miles closer now as I write this from West Palm Beach. Yesterday, Monday, March 16, we sailed out of Port Everglades again back into the Gulf Stream and paralleled the beautiful Atlantic beaches of South Florida for 50 miles north to West Palm, entering the ICW at Lake Worth inlet. We normally enjoy doing the ICW and its twenty drawbridges in this stretch, but it takes two days of motoring, so we decided to do the outside route in the ocean in one day with the sails up instead. We’d veg later. The 17th Street drawbridge photo is the biggest bascule bridge in Fort Lauderdale on the ICW, just blocks from where we used to live in Rio Vista. I was on the design committee for this bridge for the City. If you think it looks too modern and space-age and don’t like it, join me in saying so. I got voted down on every aspect of its appearance. Yuk.

The ship photos are just as we were leaving Port Everglades and were taken by the Admiral herself . . . the sunrise view was spectacular.

Well, we now have ten days until we haul Summer Breeze “onto the hard” for hurricane season in Indiantown. We’ll mosey on up the St. Lucie River over the next few days, so we’ll be blogging some more I imagine.