Log 117; Day 326; April 12, 2009; Marina Bay, Fort Lauderdale

We went on a long dinghy ride...and Deb finally got her mud slide (the drink) to take along

This is the M/V Jungle Queen that cruises up and down the New River twice a day...it's interesting to see how fast he goes, and the narrow bridges he gets through

We took the dinghy up to the end of the New River

You can see critters like this along the walls of river...I can't imagine having these living in your back yard

Lining the banks of the New River are yacht after yacht

Along the New River are several major ship yards where they can do anything to a mega yacht...hard to tell, but this is over a 100 footer backed in here.

This boat with the 4 engines on it is the tender (dinghy) for the yacht next to it.

Again, hard to tell, but the smallest boat in this picture is over 100 feet long, and the biggest is probably close to 200 feet

Log 117
Day 326
Sunday, April 12, 2009

6:05 AM EDT
Location: Marina Bay Marina, Fort Lauderdale, FL.
Weather: 71 with calm winds...it will be 87 and sunny today

Happy Easter.

It only got down to 71 again last night, and we had the A/C on in our stateroom. The last 2 mornings, as soon as I got up, I had to turn the A/C on in the salon because the humidity was so high (92%), and we ran the A/C all day yesterday...the first time I can remember doing that in a long time.

We continue to enjoy our time in Marina Bay. It is a little remote, and if you were going to stay here for a long time, you would need a car, but it’s quiet, and I love the new floating docks. And, like many of the marinas around here, it’s full of large beautiful boats, which makes a great dock walk. Across the river is Jackson Marine, where we had our boat worked on in 2000, when we made the first loop trip. It’s more of a working yard than a marina, and right now it has about 100 boats all lined up, that have been repossessed, and each boat has a tog on it that says to keep off...unless with auction personnel. I guess it’s a sign of our current times.

Friday...we spent most of the day running errands, because it was the last day we would have a car. One of the things we did was buy Deb a new camera...we have given up on her other one, since it has been fixed 3 times. We also made a trip to the grocery store, Wal-Mart, and of course...West Marine. We had lunch at Ernie’s BBQ...not much to look at from the outside...but great food, and lot’s of it. Back at the boat, it was organizing all the supplies we bought, and relaxing. It was hot & humid, and it felt great to be in the air conditioning. For dinner, Deb made her famous (at least to me) chicken enchiladas, and we started to catch up on all of the recorded episodes of American Idol that we missed while we were gone.

Saturday...it was hot and humid all day. First thing in the morning, I took the rental car back to the Fort Lauderdale airport, and took a taxi back to the boat. Question. I don’t think I’m prejudice against foreigners living here...but is it too much to ask for taxi drivers to be able to understand English, and have a clue where certain locations are? And when you talk to them, for them to acknowledge they hear you? And, to obey the rules of the road? Anyway...I made it safely back to the boat at about 9 am...barely. Before it got too hot, I decided to wax the back of the boat. While we were gone, we got black streaks down the back of the boat that I could not get off by washing, so I put on a wax/cleaner that did the trick. Deb decided to do a very thorough cleaning of the helm area. After lunch, we took a long dinghy ride all the way to the end of the New River. It’s amazing how far back this river goes, and also amazing how many boats (BIG boats) line the water way, and many, many, canals. We really enjoy doing this...and get lots of use from our dinghy. Back at the boat, we watched storms build up all around us...but no rain fell. For dinner, we had tuna steaks (that turned out to be bad...as in very fishy) and sweet corn. Our movie was 2 episodes of 24...what a great show.

Today...we have some light organizing to do today, before heading out tomorrow. I’m also sure we will get one last dinghy ride in, because this is the last time we will be in this area. On NOAA weather this morning, they said the sun index is 11. I’ve never heard of that before...I thought it only went to 10? Anyway...the sun will be very intense today, and so I’m not sure how long we will be out in it.

Tomorrow...we will leave Marina Bay and head for Palm Beach...a run of about 45 miles up the ICW. We plan on having dinner Monday evening, with Ben and Elizabeth Gordon. Ben has his own business...which specializes in finding buyers and sellers of Logistic companies. I have known him for several years, and he helped us look at potential buyers for TLC a couple of years ago. They live in Boca Raton, so we plan to stop on our way north for a visit.

I’ll keep you posted.

Bob