Billions of Boats and Bridges

Miami Beach - Sunset Harbour (4/1)
Fort Lauderdale - BahiaMar (4/2-3)
Palm Beach - Riviera Beach City Marina (4/4)

Morning coffee at Tom's Office - Hawk Channel

​Our trip from Key West up to Miami Beach on Hawks Channel was beautiful.  We came in thru Government Cut.  We have continued on this last week using the ICW.  It's slow going and there are tons of bridges but we are having fun seeing all the ginormous yachts and homes along the way.  The photos below are from Miami Beach up to Palm Beach.  

---

Miami skyline

Miami Beach Marina and skyline

Our first FL ICW bascule bridge. Lots more of them to come!

Above: On the dock at Sunset Harbour Yacht Club Right: Pool at Sunset Harbour

Converging bridges in Miami

Our night time view of Miami

We spent one night in Miami Beach at Sunset Harbour.  Marina and facilities were really nice.  It reminded us of The Wharf in Orange Beach.  After a long travel day we had a fun dinner out  and then prepped to travel the following morning to Fort Lauderdale.  It was only 24 miles up the ICW, but with 10 bridges and no wake it took us a while.  Again, we enjoyed the ride.....

Yachts, yachts and more yachts! It's absolutely astonishing how many vessels are in Fort Lauderdale.

Cargo getting loaded on a ship on the ICW between Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale

View of BahiaMar Marina from the Las Olas bridge

We arrived at Bahia Mar Marina in Fort Lauderdale early afternoon and headed out to checkout the sites.  Our marina was right across the street from the beach and a block down from the Las Olas bridge.  Great location and nice marina.  HUGE yachts of course everywhere.  Lots of yacht crews up and down the docks with matching logo shirts.  We were told that Judge Judy slipped at Bahia Mar......we never saw her or her yacht.  ;0

View of Fort Lauderdale Beach from the marina

Our beach walk in Fort Lauderdale

Buckets at the beach!

Workout sandbox :)

Little BELLA tucked into her slip at Bahia Mar

On Wednesday we met up with an old friend, Kurt Koehler.  Kurt and his family lived in Stewartville years ago.  Some of you may remember his parents, Doc and Lorraine Koehler. They moved to Florida when Kurt was in 3rd grade.  He lives in Pompano Beach now and picked out a great Fort Lauderdale eatery, The Downtowner, right on the New River, where we had a delightful lunch with him.  He shared all kinds of Fort Lauderdale info with us and we were so happy he was able to meet up with us.  Thanks Kurt for the fun time!  

Kurt, Tom and I at the Downtowner, Fort Lauderdale

After lunch we took in the sites of Las Olas and the New Riverwalk.  We toured the Stranahan House which is the home of Fort Lauderdale pioneers Frank and Ivy Stranahan. Built in 1901 as a trading post and converted into a residence for the Stranahans in 1906, the house is the oldest surviving structure in Broward County.

We had to include Tom's first "Senior Discount" ;) See honey, it's not so bad being 60!

Some of Ivy Stranahans wardrobe. She lived until 1971 and actually died at the Stranahan House. No she was not wearing these clothes when she died....

Some of the items the Stranahans traded with the Seminole Indians

The trading post/house office

The Stranahan House kitchen

We toured up and down the river and boardwalk and took some shots of life along the New River....

This part of the New River is essentially a very narrow and winding canal that connects the ICW to the Everglades. Above is a catamaran on one of the many elbows of the river all "fendered" up in case someone doesn't quite make the turn!

View of the New River from the balcony of the Stranahan House

Fuel Boat on the New River

New River Water Taxi

Large yachts like this one are too big to negotiate the turns on the New River, so small tow boats, one infront and one back will pull them and manuver them up and down the New River Canal

Above:  Tom waiting for the Andrews Street Bridge.
Right:  Tour boat on the New River
Below:  We decided to hoff it back to the marina down Las Olas.  The new build and huge catamaran were just some of the boats and homes we saw.

The scooters are on every corner.  They are for use downtown.  If you have the app you can grab one and take it to your destination and then just leave it there for the next person to use.  It was so funny watching business people downtown zoom around on them.  It reminded me of my nephew Jeff and his scooter!

---

Thursday morning we took off at first light and headed up the ICW to Rivieria Beach City Marina in Palm Beach.  It was just starting to mist when we cast the lines off.  By the time we exited the marina, it was a full on rain.  We had 20 bridges and 46 miles to get to our Palm Beach destination.  Not all bridges needed to open for us....only 12 of the twenty.  Our height is approx. 16 1/2 ft., so anything under that we had to request or wait for an opening.  Some bridges open on the hour and the half hour. Some open on the quarter and three quarter hour.  Some shut down all together during rush hour and the majority are done opening by 7pm.  Timing your bridges is important if your vessel has substantial height.  Luckily, we aren't that tall so we can scoot under anything 18 ft or higher.

Just a couple of weekend retreats!

In this neck of the woods, both the boats and homes are ginormous!  This area is where Trumps Mar-a-logo home is located.  If you are traveling on the ICW while they are there, security is around and you must stay underway at the same speed unless you have to stop for the bridge opening in that zone.  If you are waiting for the bridge, they have the authority to board your vessel.  I read all this in the ICW guide book we use for navigating.  Not sure if it's all true.  Luckily, the Trumps were not in residence and well....we aren't a threat!

Not sure who owns this one, but it's a dandy!

Just more boats....

Not sure if this is South, West or North Palm Beach. You pick ;)

We got docked at Rivieria Beach and realized the Port of Palm Beach was right next door.  Big cruise ships arriving/departing.  We got a kick out of our neighbors boat name below~

We did our typical 'get off the boat' walk and lunch at the Tiki restaurant.  We thought the marina mural was cool and loved watching the water jet riders.

Cool, huh?!

We both loved this Hinkley in our marina

It was another early morning.  We headed out for Fort Pierce again at first light.  Only 10 'high' bridges, so no waiting and 52 miles.  We bypassed Jupiter and Stuart to spend a couple of days not underway in Fort Pierce.  It again started to mist as we left the marina, but then cleared up on the way.  As we passed Jupiter, we saw a few golf courses, but no Tiger.  Sorry Sam ;)

We both chuckled at the sign at the end of the dock. You can't read the bottom line, but it says something like....Homeowner is a member of the NRA

We passed the Nina and the Pinta all tied up. We toured those vessels or replicas of them in Lake City a couple of summers ago

We motored passed the Jupiter Lighthouse at the entrance of the Jupiter Inlet

We got to Fort Pierce by noon.  We are on E dock and have met some super friendly boaters already.  We are looking forward to being tied up a few days here.  We are hoping to take in First Fridays, the Farmers Market and Oyster Fest, as well as do a little Loop planning.
As I finish this blog post up for today, it's raining cats and dogs and thundering and lightening!  I'm glad we got here before the weather did.
A quick shout out to my niece, Karly, her husband, Adam and their little guy, Parker.  Congrats on the birth of your new baby boy/brother, Payton!
More from Fort Pierce next week~