Upper Photo - One of hundreds of Man-of-Wars we saw as we crossed the Straits of Florida.
Saturday was the weather window we needed to make the crossover of the Straits of Florida. Our plans were to go back to Miami to check in, but mother nature said otherwise. Due to the winds and the ocean surge we were once again required to adjust our heading to another port as with other crossings, this time Port Everglades (aka Ft Lauderdale). As we approached Florida's east coast it became quite the spectacle, audibly and visually. As soon as we got within 20 miles of the coast ,the chatter on VHF channel 16 was non-stop. Then when we were about 5 miles from the Port Everglades inlet, the boat traffic became very heavy. What were we thinking of when we decided to return on a Saturday. Oh, I almost forgot, we are boaters and very weather dependent. The madness we saw at the inlet continued all the way up the ICW to our anchorage at Lake Sylvia.
After clearing customs by phone we had to go to the local immigration office and appear in person. Off we go with Rick and Deb in their dinghy to a local marina so that we could catch a taxi to Port Everglades. The taxi ride and the immigration office was uneventful. However, what made this most interesting is that it is the start of Spring Break. Did you ever see 20,000 colleges kids from up north in Florida in February? Yea - 20,000 pasty white kids.
Lower Photo - M/V Broulee heading for Port Everglades (Ft. Lauderdale)
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