davenportsailing: 20 Bascule Bridges, And now we wait....

Greetings from sunny Southern Florida. We are on a mooring in Ft. Lauderdale waiting for a weather window that will allow safe passage over the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas. We spent two days in Ft. Pierce to get projects done and rest. Noni treated the boys to a nice dinner at the local "Tiki Bar" and they had their first conch of the trip. Sunday we moved down the "Gold Coast" to Palm Beach. This was an interesting stretch of the ICW that shifted between heavily developed canals and intermittent pockets of wild mangroves We anchored just off the ICW in front of multi-million dollar homes within sight of cruise ships, mega-yachts, and the famous Breakers Hotel. We enjoyed our last night with my Mom and the boys kept her up playing poker with the poker chips she gave Ben for his Birthday. Lake Worth (Palm Beach) was the Northernmost spot that we considered crossing to the Bahamas. Unfortunately the weather was not going to cooperate for the next few days and we decided to move further South to Ft. Lauderdale. The stretch of the ICW we faced on Monday has 20 Bascule bridges (double draw-bridges), each with it's own schedule. Needless to say, hurrying to the next bridge and then other times waiting for bridges is not easy on the Captain. As you approach a bridge you contact them via radio, ask for their next opening and then wait. Waiting in a narrow canal with currents in a 46 foot sailboat would unnerve most people but Sam is a cool cat. Midday Monday found us in Delray Beach and we dropped off my Mom on a dock where she is visiting friends and hopefully catching-up with her brother. We slowly, thanks to the bridge schedule, made our way to Ft. Lauderdale and tied up on a mooring at a municipal marina. Tomorrow we will rent a car and supply the boat for the crossing. We need fuel, propane, food, and a few things from West Marine. We are considering a short passage on Thursday to Bimini if the weather looks right. Everyone except Win has a cold and we may wait it out here until the next weather window on Sunday.....