Yesterday was a long necessary day. Not my favorite part of the cruising  life, but we made it ! it was a day for bridges, and , bazillionaires !

After topping off our diesel, water & gas (for the dinghy tanks ( fortunately all in their correct respective receptacles)  we pushed away from Riviera Beach and headed for Ft Lauderdale.  It was a crazy tour of huge concrete mansions, enormous mega yachts & high tech high speed cruisers, and the paved concrete walls of the ICW.

NO WONDER THE MANATEES & WILDLIFE HAVE DISAPPEARED!  Our friends, Rosie & Bruce , left Charleston on their boat, Summer Breeze, a couple of weeks ahead of us. They are headed for the Keys &  and have kept us informed of what they’ve encountered on their journey down the ICW.  Rosie is an artist, but also a terrific technical writer. Below are the notes she took on all the many bridges we had to go through from Palm Beach to Ft Lauderdale:

Here is my list of bridges we did today with my notes.

BRIDGES 23
Need to open: 9
(Heights are center w/+4)
ICW: Lake Worth to Port Everglades

-Flagler:21 (25 at low tide +0.45)
-Royal park:21. (25 at low tide +0.45)
-So Blvd:14. *(lift bridge is 14’, got there at 7:40. Next opening 7:45. No posted opening schedules)
-Lake Avenue:38
-Lantana:20 or 21? *( 23’ low steel +3, at +75 tide ht)
-Ocean ave:21 (23’ at +.50 low tide. Flat. No +)
-E Woolbright Rd:25 (with +3-4 at center at low tide *.50)
-George Bush Blvd:9. * (opens on demand)
-Atlantic Avenue: 12. *(1/4 and 3/4 hour openings)
-Linton Blvd:30 (28’ +3-4 at +.67 tide ht)
-Spanish River:25+3 (22’ +3 at +.67 tide ht)
-Palmetto Park:15+4=19. *(21’ +4 at+1.08 tide ht)
-Camino real:9. *(opens every 20 min.)we had a 5 min hover with a boat jam
-Hillsborough Blvd:21 (at +1.23 tide ht, we had 18 +4 , go by tide board + 4)
-NE 14th: 15’ incl +3. (we missed the opening by minutes. Had to wait 20 min. opens 1/4 and 3/4 hour)
-Atlantic Blvd:15. *(opens at the hour and half hour)
-Commercial Blvd:15. *(opens at the hour and half hour)
-Oakland Park: 22’ (he opened for us as it was time for one. Would’ve cleared by 1’)
-E Sunrise Blvd:25
-E Sunrise Blvd: 25’
-Sunrise Blvd: 25’
-Sunrise Blvd: 25’
-E Las olas: 24’

High Cotton … Naw This is “High Condos !”

Leaving it all behind shortly, as we are lashing down the wine bottles, and any other loose provisions, to cross over to Bimini. I’ll shout out a Hallelujah when we reach the other side ! This last photo sums up my opinion of South Florida.