ICW to Fort Lauderdale

In the morning, we leave No Name Harbor and round the bend to the ICW. We see Miami as it nears and it is amazing. Today we have approximately 34 nautical miles to travel, 19 bridges to contend with, 14 of which have to open for us. This is our first day on the ICW. It's exciting and a little nerve racking. We don't know what to expect. As Gord navigates, I read him the rules and etiquette of bridges from the Waterway Guide. We need to call to request passage of each bridge as we approach it. Even if another boat ahead of us has requested an opening, we are still required to radio in. Some bridges open on the hour, some on the half hour and some on the quarter hour. Timing is important.

The first bridge we encounter has a 65' clearance, so we cruise right on under. It is incredible. The metropolis of Miami is all around us and we are travelling a river running through it. It is lined with one spectacular sight after another.

Tall buildings, restaurants, amusement parks and impressive boats catch our eye in every direction. We come to our first draw bridge and we are excited. Gord calls the Bridge Master to request passage. We are a little early, so we bob around the small bay waiting for the opening. The alarm sounds. It's a 4 - 6 second bell with one short blast following that signals the bridge is about to open. We've learned that the boat running with the current has the right of way, but if you are unsure, to let the other boat proceed through first. As we pass through, five short alarms sound which indicate the danger alarm alerting everyone in earshot that the bridge is now closing.

Today goes smoothly. Some bridges we wait 20 minutes for, most only a few minutes. Our timing is pretty good. We were travelling at the same speed as a boat called "Take Two" so they approached each bridge just ahead of us. As we go through one bridge, Take Two steps it up on plane and starts to pull ahead. We are confused, because there are signs everywhere marking speeds and manatee zones. We realize he will make the next bridge that opens on the quarter hour, we will not, but we decide not to risk it.

As a first timer on the ICW, the view from the water is great. We pass the Port of Fort Lauderdale and see the massive ships that haul the shipping containers for transport trucks and trains. It's incredible to see the infrastructure put in place for this operation. As we approach the Port, a Coast Guard helicopter flies overhead. It is loud, low and quick. The helicopter turns and heads back over us. It does this so many times, we start to wonder if we are the problem. As we cruise passed the large ships, we see a small canal with a large Coast Guard inflatable dinghy sitting in it. We sense there may be something going on. We take in the sight and continue on our way. It's interesting that some parts of this stretch of the ICW are cityscapes on one side and thriving mangroves on the other. It can also be densely populated residential areas on both sides and we just casually meander through.

As we near our destination in Fort Lauderdale, we pass massive homes, and equally massive boats. In fact, if you Google any one of the names of these boats, the information is readily available. Some are owned by real estate tycoons, some by oil rich families, one specifically was Steven Spielberg's 282 foot yacht formerly named Seven Seas. The yacht is now called Man of Steel and is owned by Canadian Barry Zekelman, owner of one of North America's largest steel pipe and tube makers. If you'd like to know how much the yacht sold for, I'll save you the Google time. It was $150 million.

As we approach our second to last bridge of the day, we see Take Two up ahead. We wonder how we could have possibly caught up to them. They should be at least a half an hour ahead of us. Gord radios to the 18th Bridge Master of the day requesting passage and we travel through with Take Two. As we approach the 19th bridge of the day, we need to pass Take Two on her port side since she's travelling at a slower pace. Gord calls Take Two on the VHF and Take Two responds and confirms our ability to pass. Gord asks if it is his intention to catch the next bridge, and Take Two responded by saying he'd like to, but they had just been pulled over for speeding and were issued a ticket. We now understood, why we'd caught up to the vessel and we were glad we'd made the conservative decision to cruise along at 7-8 knots for the day.

Our dock in Fort Lauderdale for the next couple of days is just outside of Jeff Stanley's place. Jeff is the broker who helped us with the purchase of Holy Cow and the dinghy which now sits on the bow. He has been such an incredible resource to us during this process. There's so much to learn, even in the purchase of the boat, of which regulations, laws and licenses are relevant and required. Jeff walked us through each process and because of him and the research Gord was so diligent in doing, the entire deal went smoothly. The service Jeff provides is second to none. Here's his contact information should you wish to purchase a vessel south of the Canadian border. https://www.gilmanyachts.com/yacht-brokers/jeff-stanley

We have a port side tie at the dock so just before entering the canal, we lower the dinghy off the bow of Holy Cow and into the channel. We cannot lower the dinghy off on the starboard side and we may want to use it over the next couple of days so it needs to come off before we dock. Jaxon hops in the dinghy and follows us in as we slide up to the dock and tie up. If you've been following along, you know what comes next. Even after a long travel day, and even in the heat and humidity of the afternoon, out comes the fresh water hoses and we get to work washing the salt off our lovely boat.

View from the Bridge

Do Not Turn Around Gord