Part of Hurricane Harbour
Giftwrap it (look carefully)
Driving Downtown
Upsizing
Lettuce Lake
Down a side street
Home at Vero BeachApril 1/08Mar
Today was a slow day, as we had lots of bridges to call, and wait for them to open. The further south we go, the more bridges have schedules that we have to adhere to.
Once we hit Vero Beach and areas south the scenery started to change from lovely natural surroundings to eye candy of a different type. If you are into admiring houses, this is a voyeur's paradise. Beautiful homes line the length of the ICW but in Florida they seem even more so. The landscaping makes them stand out, as everything is green and manicured, with lovely blooming hibiscus and bougainvillea.
The further south we got, the more elaborate the houses. The ICW itself has little water roads leading off it, like side streets, with people's boats parked outside their door.
We are right in town now, with building all around.We anchored in a spot called Lettuce Lake, just a pond sized opening off the waterway, surrounded by homes and apartment houses.
April 2/08
Our last day! These past three days we have made little mileage because of the bridges. And each day has been a little more frustrating. Today we seem to have trouble getting the bridges to hear us on our radio. We read that this seems to happen to quite a few people! The Las Olas Bridge in Fort Lauderdale, with a scheduled opening, would not answer our repeated hailing, and then didn't open when he was supposed to! He said he hadn't heard us, and we had to wait another half and hour, treading water. That can be very stressful in a crowded waterway.
Part of the ICW here is wall to wall concrete, so that the wake from passing speedboats sloshes back and forth as though in a bathtub. That's not too much fun when you are in a slow moving sailboat and being bounced about.
But the sights are never boring, and we are kept constantly amazed by all we see. We passed Miami Harbour and into Biscayne Bay. The water has that lovely bluey-green that lets us know we have nearly arrived.
We are anchored in Hurricane Harbour at the south end of Key Biscayne, where Chris and our friend Dan anchored the first night they moved the boat north. Chris says the harbour looks bigger this time round. The Bahamas are just under 50 miles away due east, and we are waiting for the right weather conditions to cross.
The ICW through Florida has been wonderful. I wasn't looking forward to it because people were talking of the recent legislation making everything so boater unfriendly; anchoring was being discouraged, marinas were supposed to be so expensive, and it was a "concrete jungle". In the end, the northern section was full of natural beauty, and the urban areas were definitely eyecatching too. We anchored out every night with no problem. I don't know if it would have been different if we tried to linger anywhere, but as it was,it was all great.
Today was a slow day, as we had lots of bridges to call, and wait for them to open. The further south we go, the more bridges have schedules that we have to adhere to.
Once we hit Vero Beach and areas south the scenery started to change from lovely natural surroundings to eye candy of a different type. If you are into admiring houses, this is a voyeur's paradise. Beautiful homes line the length of the ICW but in Florida they seem even more so. The landscaping makes them stand out, as everything is green and manicured, with lovely blooming hibiscus and bougainvillea.
The further south we got, the more elaborate the houses. The ICW itself has little water roads leading off it, like side streets, with people's boats parked outside their door.
We are right in town now, with building all around.We anchored in a spot called Lettuce Lake, just a pond sized opening off the waterway, surrounded by homes and apartment houses.
April 2/08
Our last day! These past three days we have made little mileage because of the bridges. And each day has been a little more frustrating. Today we seem to have trouble getting the bridges to hear us on our radio. We read that this seems to happen to quite a few people! The Las Olas Bridge in Fort Lauderdale, with a scheduled opening, would not answer our repeated hailing, and then didn't open when he was supposed to! He said he hadn't heard us, and we had to wait another half and hour, treading water. That can be very stressful in a crowded waterway.
Part of the ICW here is wall to wall concrete, so that the wake from passing speedboats sloshes back and forth as though in a bathtub. That's not too much fun when you are in a slow moving sailboat and being bounced about.
But the sights are never boring, and we are kept constantly amazed by all we see. We passed Miami Harbour and into Biscayne Bay. The water has that lovely bluey-green that lets us know we have nearly arrived.
We are anchored in Hurricane Harbour at the south end of Key Biscayne, where Chris and our friend Dan anchored the first night they moved the boat north. Chris says the harbour looks bigger this time round. The Bahamas are just under 50 miles away due east, and we are waiting for the right weather conditions to cross.
The ICW through Florida has been wonderful. I wasn't looking forward to it because people were talking of the recent legislation making everything so boater unfriendly; anchoring was being discouraged, marinas were supposed to be so expensive, and it was a "concrete jungle". In the end, the northern section was full of natural beauty, and the urban areas were definitely eyecatching too. We anchored out every night with no problem. I don't know if it would have been different if we tried to linger anywhere, but as it was,it was all great.
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