Malicious Weather Gods

As soon as its time for us to leave FTL the weather gods took notice and whipped up the coldest weather year to date here, followed by winds from the NE for the next 5 days that make it impossible to cross to Grand Bahama. Late next week, probably, before we can cross.

Venice of America

Fort Lauderdale calls itself "The Venice of America", ignoring the fact that the thousands of miles of canals would never be built today. The motto is even more misleading when the recent history of the city has been to love mega yachts and disdain cruising boats, sail or power, and wish all live-a-boards would just go away.

A really nice restaurant is located at Lauderdale Marina positioned just north of the 17th St Causeway. We got to the Marina by dinghy; through canals and the ICW. From the outdoor dining balcony:

The 17 Street Causeway bridge. Under the bridge is the Port Everglades turning basin and the channel to sea.

The second picture is the Pier 66 Hotel (now renamed the Hyatt), one of the better known landmarks. Note the mega yachts all around.

The third picture is a shot of the DIXIE IV in her slip as we approach by dinghy.

And last, never miss an opportunity for a photo of FL wildlife. Here is a very large iguana sunning behind a house. These iguana are not harmless, though they are not aggressive in behavior. Their droppings contain a very high level of bacteria that can, and does, make dogs, cats, and curious children very ill.

Plans Written in Sand

As I have said before and will again "Boat Plans are Written in Sand at Low Tide". Just as we are preparing to leave FTL on Saturday a cold front is coming thru with north winds so we'll stay here day by day until the seas drop.

The picture shows Chet working on the fresh water pump that failed in the middle of the night leading to a midnight project to replace it with, fortunately, a spare pump. Always something.

A Visit from Old Friends

Mike and Terry came through a couple of days ago. They swallowed the anchor after cruising the Carribean for 4 years and are now in St Petersburg, heavy into art shows with Terry's paintings. To help them in their art show travels they bought a new (to them) RV and this trip was their break in week. They stopped in FTL on their way to a show in Key West.

The first picture is Mike and Terry and the RV.

Second is them in the spacious cabin of their land yacht.

The third picture is a revisit to the Florida wildlife comments. Hundreds of parrots on the power wires on Hendricks Isle.

Always Something Going on Riverwalk

There is something evryweekend on Riverwalk in downtown FTL. This weekend, as seen in the first picture, is the Turkish Festival - food, trinkets, music, etc.

The second picture shows a couple of wild parrots. There are thousands of parrots that are descended from imported parrots that were released or escaped and settled into South Florida. Another example of "new natives".

A less attactive example is huge python snakes that have settled in the everglades. They have been known to try to swallow alligators whole with the predictable result. Neither retile survives.

"Home" on Hendricks Isle

Our temprary "home" on Hendricks Isle probably won't be here next year. Three adjoining properties were purchased three years ago with the intent to demolish the existing buildings and contruct 8 townhouses. Because the home market is so overbuilt in South Florida the developers have not done anything except clear the first lot, which had to be done because of rodent infestation.

The first picture is a front view of the center property. Its really run down since no maintenance is done at all.

The second picture is another view showing the "temporary" roof covering still in place 3 years after ther last hurricane.

The third picture is the DIXIE IV behind the building.

All of this will be gone soon.

Miami Boat Show

The Miami Boat Show is billed as the largest in the world, though some European shows dispute that. We have been going to this show for at least 34 years, missing some years but being there most years. We long ago gave up looking at boats and concentrated on the largest accessory exhibit in the world.

Some pictures:
The first is a shot across the floor of the Miami Convention Center. This does not capture the 2 MILLION square feet of exhibition space. Its a big show.

The second is a shot of the sailboat show. Note the multihulls; billed as the largest multihull show.

Pictures 3 & 4 depict our dining companions at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. The food inside the convention center is terrible as you would expect so we had a late lunch/early dinner at Miamarina before driving back to the boat (90 minutes to go 22 miles). A single squirrel and many pigeons.

As an observation, the drivers in south Florida are the worst in the United States; and that's being kind.