Out of Lake Worth Early to Ft Lauderdale — 11•22•21
I have a slip in the old Las Olas City Marina, now just called The Las Olas Marina, a Suntex Experience. I wanted to get in at slack tide, as the fit into some of the slips is tight, and with the current that runs through there, I wanted it as minimal as possible. Unfortunately, the slack tide was at 1000 (10:00 am). That meant a 0200 (2:00 am) departure.
0115 – I’m up and prepping for a 0200 hours departure. Before the sunset, I marked a few floating buoys in the water near me that I didn’t want to hit in the dark. Anchor up and underway at 0155. Moving slowly out of the anchorage as to not disturb other boats and keep a watch out for a few poles that are not lit. I got into the channel without any issues, but I did notice a large freighter getting underway, that I wanted to keep clear of.
I cleared the channel markers and turned south towards Ft Lauderdale. There was a large thunderstorm with lighting near me, but I was pretty sure it was heading away from me. I kept a watch on it visually and via radar, that it was not heading in my direction.
Sport Fishing Boat Follies
I’m not sure what happens as you near Ft. Lauderdale and the Miami area, but the Sport Fishing Boats act like drunks walking home after a bender at the bars.
It’s bad enough that NON of these boats turn on their AIS ( Automatic Identification System ), they seem to intentionally weave back and forth in front of me. It’s a large ocean but I seem to attract them. Always heading towards me, or passing me to turn very close in front of me. They never seem to be on their VHF or listing to channel 16. At first, it really pissed me off. Now I make a game of it and aim my boat for their lines if they cut close. I wave at them, point at their lines, and aim for them. After a few close calls, they leave me alone.
Drawbridge Guantlet Challenge
I could have taken the ICW ( The Intracoastal Waterway ) from Lake Worth to Ft Lauderdale, as it’s all drawbridges. My only issue with that is it’s 20 bridges, and for each one, you have to call and wait for an opening. So by going out to the Atlantic and going down the coast, I miss most. I do have three bridges to go through to get to my slip. You need to time these as they only open every half hour and sometimes not during rush hours. I also wanted to stop at Bahia Mar Marina for fuel, as Las Olas Marina does not have fuel (Or really anything now).
Lots of stuff floating in the waterways of Ft Lauderdale. So dodging palm branches and coconuts was the norm. I was trying to stay ahead of a few large yachts as I was afraid they were going to get fuel also and might block me. Luckily the Bahia Mar Marina fuel dock was wide open and I was able to dock and get fueled up in a timely manner and still made the final bridge opening on time. I got my slip assignment and docked and tied up with no issues, thanks to having very little current at 1000 hours.