A Bridge Too Far

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January 5th- Lake Worth to Lantana, FL

We woke to another windy morning on Lake Worth. At least the wind was out of the North so we’d be getting pushed in the right direction.

Rybovich Marina. Mega marina for mega yachts.

5 bridges later we were in Lantana. The anchorage is right in front of the Old Key Lime House. We had evening music from the Tiki bar. There was a bakery nearby so we picked up some fresh bread and pastries in the morning.

Old Key Lime House.

Lantana Bridge

Catalpa anchored at Lantana.

January 6th- Lantana to Lake Boca Raton, FL

Originally the plan was to head down to Fort Lauderdale. With all the bridges we had to pass through I decided to split the difference and end the day early in Lake Boca Raton. There are bridges over the ICW that are less than a mile apart. There are far more draw bridges in Florida than the rest of the entire ICW.

Today’s list

  • Ocean Ave
  • South East 15th St
  • George Bush
  • Atlantic Ave
  • Linton Blvd
  • Spanish River Blvd
  • Palmetto Park

This whole portion of the trip is through mansions and condos.

Do they have this many Spanish mansions in Spain?

Christmas Candy Land Mansion.

The end of the day had us in Lake Boca Raton. The anchorage was a little crowded but we found a spot for Catalpa. I was able to get Ollie to shore over in Palmetto Park. Other than that, there is limited shore access. The lake is extremely crowded on the weekends with partying day boats but supposedly quiet during the week.

My Boca story- Around 3:00 A powerboat with a bunch of people on it anchored next to us. Soon after another boat tied up to them, joined by a few jet skis. Then the party started. It turned out to be a loud Monday afternoon. We didn’t really mind. I figured they’d leave around sundown. They didn’t. The party continued into the night. Eventually one of the boats left but the one that stayed had the loud dance music and booze. Around 9:30 or so the music cut out and the revellers seemed agitated. There were no lights on. No music. They drained the boats batteries with the stereo. Eventually they towed the boat (around 30′) off into the night with a jet ski. In lieu of running lights, they danced on deck with flashlights by some auxiliary music source. Maybe there is a lesson to be learned. Probably not.

Boca Raton

January 7th- Lake Boca Raton to Lake Sylvia, Fort Lauderdale, FL

Onward south! We feel like fish out of water down here. The phrase that comes to mind is urban sprawl but it’s more of a “wealth sprawl”. How many mansions and super yachts can there possibly be? Up north big houses are generally on large pieces of land. Down here they seem to be piled up on one another.

This one was unique.

Approaching Ft. Lauderdale

The bridge list.

  • Camino Real
  • Hillsboro Blvd
  • NE 14th St
  • Atlantic Blvd
  • Commercial Blvd
  • Oakland Park
  • Sunrise
  • Las Olas Blvd

The plan was to grab a mooring at the Las Olas Marina in Fort Lauderdale. The mooring basin was totally empty so we felt lucky to be able to grab any one of their 10 moorings. We called the marina to let them know we’d be in shortly to pay for the mooring. They informed us, the mooring field is closed for repairs. We felt less lucky. We dropped the mooring and headed a little further on to an anchorage in Lake Sylvia. The books say there is room for about 10 to 15 boats at the anchorage. I counted 36 before losing count. We wedged Catalpa in. I anchored with short scope and tied out a few fenders “just in case”. A few other boats came in after us. The lake was packed. Thankfully it was a calm night (and quiet).

Ollie’s commando runs lived up to the name. There is nowhere to go ashore in Lake Sylvia as it’s surrounded by big houses. A trip down 2 canals and across the ICW had us at a seedy boat ramp. It was a long ride and we are running low on dinghy fuel. I tried to find fuel but didn’t want to leave the dinghy for long. Maybe the next stop.

The next morning I had a different plan for the shore run. We had to get the dinghy under a road bridge with only a couple feet of clearance. I’d done it the day before so, no problem? The tide was up. We didn’t quite have enough clearance. Everyone layed down in the bottom of the dinghy. We got through. The top of the outboard housing has a little more character now. We went down a different canal and found a convenient spot on the side of a road to stop.

Lake Sylvia.

January 8th- Lake Sylvia to Miami Marine Stadium, Virginia Key, FL

Originally this was going to be a shorter day to end at Oleta State park but I pushed on further due to some upcoming windy weather. We wanted to get to an anchorage with some access to ice, water, and fuel. Miami. A measly 1700 miles from Buzzards Bay.

Port Everglades.

We continued down the ICW and negotiated more draw bridges.

  • 17th St (56′ clearance so we didn’t need it to open for us)
  • Dania Beach Blvd
  • Sheridan St
  • Hollywood Blvd
  • Hallandale Beach Blvd
  • NE 163rd St
  • Broad Causeway
  • West 79st
  • West Venetian Causeway (I believe this is the last one)

We went under other bridges over the past few days but they were fixed bridges with enough clearance for us to pass under. The West Venetian is the last ICW draw bridge for us until we turn North.

The fabled Biscayne Bay. This picture was taken near the Oleta State Park. A fun little tidal island for locals.

The buildings are getting bigger.

The little West Venetian Causeway bridge.

Miami.

At the end of the day we anchored in the Miami Marine Stadium. It is in Virginia Key which is right across the water from Miami (it’s part of the city). It’s an interesting place and a good, well protected, anchorage.

….and WHAT A VIEW