Ft. Lauderdale

We left Vero Beach January 24th and snuggled into a slip in Ft. Lauderdale late Wednesday afternoon, January 25th. Vero Beach has no inlet to the ocean, so we followed the Intracoastal Waterway south to the Ft. Pierce inlet, just a reverse of our trip north on the ICW to Vero Beach a week earlier. The latest forecast predicted 20+ knots, but the ICW was OK. After a couple of hours, we turned west off the ICW and soon were through Ft. Pierce and entering the inlet out to the ocean. There, as quickly as we committed to going out the inlet, we faced new circumstances. We could see that the waves were high and the water was rough, but still did not expect what was happening. The bow would rise up high out of the water, then slam back on the water with the bow heading into the water and we had quite a ride. We thought about turning back, but that didn't seem like a good prospect, so we just kept going. We could see the ocean and could tell it was not as rough as the inlet. We just keep moving, and once we got out of the inlet, the gusty wind and whitecaps actually looked good. As we talked through what had happened, we realized that the east wind was meeting the tide going out and causing a nasty inlet.

The wind was becoming south east, and thus, pretty much on our nose, so our progress was not great. Soon, even our slow progress stopped. Around midnight, about the time that we passed the Lake Worth inlet, we were slowed to about one knot. Again, we thought, "What is going on?" We were less than three miles off shore and on the edge of the Gulf Stream, but this powerful current included a weather induced Atlantic rip-tide (didn't figure that out right a way!). We tried both heading further out to sea and closer to land; we could pick up a knot, but were being blown too far off course. This went on for a few hours, so we decided that at dawn we would turn around and go in the Lake Worth inlet. As soon as we turned around, we picked up speed and were soon traveling 11 knots --yup, that's how fast that current was moving. We were only about four miles from the inlet and were there so quickly. Several ships were anchored outside of the inlet; we did not want to have to wait on all of them to go in during daylight. We were lucky (finally). It wasn't quite yet light, one ship started into the inlet, and we followed it. Before long, we were back on the ICW and glad to be there for the rest of our trip to Ft. Lauderdale.

Going south from Lake Worth, much of the the ICW becomes a narrow land cut that is lined with houses, hotels, and condos on both sides. The views are views and landscapes are quite varied, but all beautiful. For the next 41 miles, we had 21 restricted bridges to go through! Most open on the hour and half-hour, while some open on the quarter and three-quarter hour. Two miles to travel before a bridge opens in 30 minutes means adjusting your speed so you don't arrive too early; four miles to travel in 30 minutes means pushing your engine for a bit so you don't have to wait another 30 minutes. We were able to get a good flow going; a couple of times the bridge tenders knew we were coming and kept the bridge open just a little longer.

By 4:30 we were in a slip Bahia Mar marina. We are, like many other cruisers, awaiting a weather window to cross the Gulf Stream and spend a few months in the Bahamas.