Log 111; Day 302; March 19, 2009; New River City Marina, Fort Lauderdale, FL.

This is a shot of our lunch stop Le Tub...just along the ICW about 1 hour south of Fort Lauderdale

Just an idea of what the inside of Le Tub looks like

I think you might be able to read the writing on the menu...it tells the whole story

Just up the waterway from Le Tub this is what you see...about 1 mile up from here is one of the busiest ports on the east coast, and the entrance to Fort Lauderdale

This is a shot of one of the mansions on the New River...just off the ICW

This is a picture from the bow of our boat, in our slip on the New River in downtown Fort Lauderdale

A little idea of how busy the waterway is right next to our boat

Just one of the many large yachts that go in and out of here

This yacht took 2 tugs to get it out of the New River

Log 111
Day 302
Thursday, March 19, 2009

7:30 AM EST
Location: New River City Marina, Fort Lauderdale, FL.
Weather: 72 and pouring down rain, with calm winds...going to 78 today with rain and thunderstorms.

It is raining this morning...and has been raining for the last 36 hours. Right now it is pouring. My XM weather radar shows showers all around us in Fort Lauderdale, and not moving. They predict it will rain most of the day.

Getting here...our trip from Miami was great. We had to wait about 15 minutes for one bridge to open (there are only two bridges we can’t get under from Miami to Fort Lauderdale), but other than that, the ride was perfect. It was certainly calm enough to go outside in the Atlantic for the trip up, but we chose the inside ICW so we could see all the sights. The sun was bright (weather channel called it a 10 on the exposure meter) and the winds were light. Also, not a lot of other boat traffic, so the navigating was easy as well. Most of the way, the waterway is straight forward, and deep, with only a few areas where the channel is narrow, and you have really pay attention to what you are doing. About an hour south of Fort Lauderdale, we stopped at Le Tub, one of the most unusual burger joints we have ever been in. It looked rustic from the waterway, and had a dock we could tie up to...so we did. Deb and I agree it was one of our better stops.

We arrived at New River about 2 pm. We originally planned to go and pump out the holding tanks before tying up at the slip, but traffic was so heavy, that we decided that we would tie up first, and get the pump out later. Instead of a usual slip, we are tied to a long wall of pilings that stretches all through the downtown area, and is managed by the city. There is no doubt that this is the busiest stretch of waterway we have ever stayed in. The day we arrived, there was a non stop stream of boats going past us until late in the evening. Every size boat was represented, from dinghies, to boats exceeding 100 feet in length. Way up in the New River there are large shipyards that build, and work on, yachts of all sizes. These yachts must go through this narrow and busy area, and it is amazing to see them go by. Sometimes they must have tow boats move them through the river, because they are too big to make the turns, and navigate on their own power.

Yesterday...it rained steady most of the day. In the morning, I put on rain gear and walked about 1/2 mile along the waterway, to the city marina office to check in, and get our bearings on the area. We are right downtown, so there is every kind of shop and restaurant you can imagine. We are also about 1 block from Los Ollas Boulevard...a famous high end shopping street in Fort Lauderdale. I doubt we’ll be spending much time there...they don’t have a marine store. While doing some boat chores during lunch time, I got a call from Jerry Williams, our friend on Sea La Vie, who we have seen a few times along the trip. He and a couple of his buddies were having lunch at the Downtown Saloon, which is just down the walkway from us, and called to see if I wanted to join them. His offer sounded much better that what I was doing, so I, again, put on the rain gear and walked down there. We ended up going to West Marine, and Bluewater Charts (a huge store dedicated to nautical books and charts, that I have been getting charts from for years) and stopping off at his boat at Hall of Fame Marina. Back at the boat, it was still raining, so we stayed inside, made egg rolls and hot and sour soup for dinner, and watched Trust Me for the dinner movie.

Today...as I have been writing this (I started at 7am...it’s now 9:30) the rain has come off and on...at this very minute it has stopped, and the sun is trying to come out. The radar shows lots of rain still in the area, with thunder showers forecasted for this afternoon. I’m sure today will be about exploring the area further. If it stops raining for a while, maybe we’ll even take a dinghy ride up the river. Speaking of the New River...earlier this morning two tug boats went up the river, and they just came by towing a 100 footer, and a few minutes ago, a 105 foot boat “Outta Touch” went by heading out of the river. This is a very cool spot, but not for the faint of heart, if you are driving the boat.


I’ll keep you posted.

Bob