Fort Lauderdale to Marathon

 1/24/2022

Bridges and Fort Lauderdale
will always be joined in our memory

The picture above was just one of many bridges that had to open to let us (and all the other boats) pass under, North and South.  Finally here.

Fort Lauderdale (Bahia Mar Marina) to Marathon (Safe Harbor Marathon Marina)

Huge amazing facility being built this year

This building was on our walk to pick up dinner.  Sunday night in Fort Lauderdale might as well be prime time Saturday night.  I guess since this is such a vacation destination, no one cares if it is Sunday or that it is cold outside.  The restaurant where we picked up dinner was hopping!  So anyway, This building and grounds are actually associated with a different marina than where we are staying - The International Swimming Hall of Fame.  If we had more time, I am sure that we would have gone inside to take a look.  In the waterway guide, they actually describe it as a very interesting place.  We could see out behind the building that there was a pool and audience stands and a very, very, very high diving tower. Scary!!

Last Bridge before the inlet

Passing Miami

Long Stretch in the Ocean and weather is the big concern.  We have a window that coincides with our schedule.  A Cold front has passed last night and it is 47 this morning.  The breeze is predicted to calm all day, but for the first couple of hours it will still be blowing strong.  The direction will be off the land and the plan is to hug the coast past Miami and Key Biscayne.  Swell Info is a good source for near shore conditions.  It is a surfing app and predicts the near shore conditions very well.  Buoy reports app, Windy app, and NOAA marine zone forecasts round out our sources.  Our first leg turned ugly when NASA forced us further offshore.  Can't see a situation where this occurs.  Long trip, 150 miles, speed has a big impact on how long the day will be and conditions will dictate speed.

Monday Miami and Fort Lauderdale
 conditions say it's a go! This with
 small craft warnings ending sometime this morning

So we did venture South.  We actually had a decent ride even though it seemed to work backwards for a bit, building up white caps rather than diminishing.  Because we had a following sea we had a pretty decent ride and were able to go fast the whole way.  We left at 9:15 and arrived at the fuel dock (again) at Safe Harbor Marathon at 2:45.  Great time for a long trip.  Tomorrow we have about 40 nautical miles to Key West.

Hello Miami

Anchored right outside Miami Inlet

Several Cruise ships waiting to get into Miami
with several others already in port

We passed Stiltsville way offshore
you could see the structures 
but the pictures didn't show
what they were. If you dont'
know about Stiltsville, google it!