Sunday May 19: Enjoying Hollywood :-)

When we left Lake Worth, it was a really nice day - unlike the previous day. Although in all fairness, it was only after 4 pm yesterday that the weather went straight downhill!

It was about 54 miles to Hollywood with at least a zillion bridges - many of which we would need raised. The tide was going out - 3 feet of tide - which slowed us down but also allowed us under some of the 22' bridges (we need 21 feet to clear the mast). Neither one of us is mentally strong enough to attempt to go under a 22' bridge!!



I was just so happy to be able to stand up while we were underway and not have to be holding onto anything!!

It was a novel feeling after the trip from the West End :-)



One thing there are lots of in this area (from Palm Beach south to Miami Beach) are yachts. So many yachts. It continues to amaze us that there can be so many people with so much money. In some of the marinas, the docks full of these huge things are just one after another.

The homes lining the waterway are of course just as massive. It's enough to seriously wonder what in the world is wrong with people!

It's quite rare to see one of these yachts moving or traveling. Mmmmm ... maybe they just need some crew to help out! My next job??

Most of the bridges are just a pain to go under but there are some in Fort Lauderdale that are actually entertaining - super art work by very talented people.

Still the novelty of even the painted ones wears off after about the twentieth bridge or so :-)





We were happily in and tied up on Tuesday by 4:30 pm. Not a bad day but yes, long. But not as long as the previous day!!!

The weather prediction for the next several days was not great - with thunderstorm predicted every afternoon.

The first one rolled in right on time Tuesday early evening.



So we decided to just stay a while. First we were tired. Second who wants to travel with thunderstorms and third no one in their right mind would be on the waterways around Ft. Lauderdale or Miami on a weekend!

Time for Enterprise to pick us up! We waited, and waited. The marina guy says he sees that a lot - "they tell you five minutes and it takes an hour."

And we laughed - it was funny the first time. By the fourth or fifth time I wanted to just smack the guy! Yes, it took an hour ....

So we went to breakfast at the beach and at a couple of diners. None as good as the Conch in Marathon :-)

We also made it to a show. Saw Shazam - it was fun, entertaining. The theater had power reclining seats and that is always fun!!

I'm not sure where the rest of the time went but it's now Sunday and we turn the car in tomorrow morning.

It's time to head south back to Marathon. We've changed plans a bit as Driftwood Marina had room for us (when we left in April Shelly didn't have any spots for us).





Lesson Learned (yet again the hard way): NEVER TIE A LINE FROM THE RAILING TO A POST when you have 3 feet of tide.

It was just temporary - the satellite does well if the boat goes up and down but not so well if the boat  is moving side to side. So Steve was kind enough to tie us tightly to the side pole so I could watch American Idol.

In the middle of the night we both woke up with a quite loud sound of wood breaking. Oops - forgot to untie the 'temporary' line.



Result? 2 more breaks in the railing ....  Good thing Steve became so proficient in repairing this railing as a result of Irma because he had the opportunity to practice that skill again :-)












And once again did a great job!!! A few more coats of Cetol and it'll be almost good as new :-)