26 November 2024
Depart: Private dock Pompano Beach, FL 10:05
Arrive: No Name Harbor anchorage near Miami, FL 5:15
Distance: ~ 43 nm
Today's trip from Pompano Beach to No Name Harbor should have been a relatively easy day. At 8 knots speed, the trip should have been just over 5 hours long. However, we ended up taking the slow way.
To start the day, we visited with our dock hosts for an hour before leaving their dock. We timed our leaving to coincide with the opening times for the NE 14th Street bridge. Because we have been unable to empty our holding tank in the ocean, we had to look for a pump-out station. We decided to go to Sands Harbor Marina for this service. To go there, we had to go through the bridge.
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| NE 14th Street Bridge Opening |
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| No chance to transit without opening |
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| View of working of raised bridge |
We got the 10:15 opening as planned, and the fuel dock at Sands became free just as we arrived there, so things were looking promising. As we came in to dock, we learned that the pump-out hose would not reach unless we spun around, so we did so. Clark got already with the paraphernalia he uses when pumping out, and attach the nozzle to the pump-out fitting. He opened the valve and nothing happened. The dock hand looked around and found that the end piece of the marina's hose was broken at the PVC joint and was just laying open on the dock. He said he didn't know it was broken. No pump-out happening here today!
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| Sands Harbor Marina |
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| Artwork consisting of mural with live plants |
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| Outdoor seating at Sands Marina |
Figuring that at $3.49 per gallon the fuel price here would be cheaper than in the Keys, Clark decided to top up the fuel tanks as long as we were there. When that job was completed, we decided to try Taha next door to see if they could do a pump-out for us as suggested by the dockhand at the Sands. At Sands, the cost for a pump-out was $15. At Taha, the price quoted was $20! Note that in NJ pump-outs are free!
We had two choices from here. We could either 1) reverse course, go through the NE 14th Street bridge again, and head out into the ocean at Hillsboro Inlet or 2) continue south on the ICW until we reached the Port of Everglades Inlet at Fort Lauderdale. The ICW presented us with a number of bridges to transit. We opted to stay on the ICW. From a lots-to-see point of view it turned out to be a great choice. From a time-to-get-there point of view, we would have been better off going back to the Hillsboro Inlet.
As we approached Taha to check their pump-out status, the Atlantic Ave bridge started to open for their 11:00. Clark had me yell over to Taha to see if we could do a pump-out there. If not, we would go through the bridge as it was open. Taha said, "Come on in!" By the time we finished there with that job, it was almost time for the bridge 11:30 opening. Only a few blocks from our friend's dock, and already over an hour had passed since we left their house.
As a point of interest here, I looked in a reference book that I have and found that at the bridge, we were at mile marker 1055 on the ICW. Meaning we have traveled 1055 statute miles since Norfolk, Virginia. Only about 130 more miles to go to get to Marathon.
Given we had a number of bridges to deal with today, I made a chart with the clearance data and our expected status.
As we traveled south on the inside, Clark was frustrated with how slow we had to go because it was after Nov 15th so almost the whole way was either slow minimum wake or idle speed no wake. Meanwhile, I found lots of photo ops and an occasional story for the blog. The first story occurred at the Atlantic Blvd bridge. Several boats were waiting for the bridge opening. We were traveling south; however, several boats were traveling north. The northbound vessels had the current with them, so Clark called out over the VHF 09 that we would be waiting for their traffic to pass before we made our way to the bridge opening.
When the bridge was fully up, however, the boats on the south side did not get underway. A sailboat in the front of the line had anchored his boat. He had called the bridge earlier saying he had an engine problem right near the bridge. When it came time to move, although he evidentially got his engine started, he could not get his anchor up right away. His boat was doing circles in front of the other vessels (one quite large one) holding everyone up from moving.
The bridge tender called out to the northbound boats, "Well, are you coming through or not!?" All we could do was watch the sailboat weaving back and forth in front of the other boats. Finally, he got the boat over to one side (still anchored) but at least so other vessels could pass by him, and traffic started to move.
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| View of northbound boats at bridge with sailboat in the lead |
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| Sailboat spinning circles in front of other traffic |
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| Still trying to get out of the way |
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| Traffic finally moving; big big boat "Due Process" in the lead now |
After the northbound traffic moved through, we made our way south. We passed the frustrated sailor still hauling in his anchor as we went by. All through here we saw "Slow Speed; Minimum Wake" signs, but as we passed, the owner of the sailboat angrily waved us by as if we should be speeding past instead of idling past. Not his call!
Sadly, by the time he had his anchor up (he pulled in the last of it as we passed him), the bridge had lowered once again. He ended up turning south and following behind us.
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| @ 11:38 a.m. Anchor just getting pulled onboard |
As we passed through the Atlantic Ave bridge, I took pictures of the murals and workings of the bridge.
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| "Pompano Beach" |
I noticed some interesting, and unusual to me, workmen out today as we motored by.
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| Man in Hazmat suit cleaning the hull of a huge boat. What a difference! |
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| 3 men in the water scraping barnacles, etc. off the bulkhead |
We reached the next bridge at Commercial Boulevard just as they were preparing to open for 12:00.
The sign at this bridge welcomed boaters to Fort Lauderdale - The "Yachting Capital of the World".
I found looking at the mechanics of the bridge works interesting. This one had a different design than the last one.
Between this bridge and the next, we passed a house with a lot of decorations for Christmas. At night, the lit "Merry Christmas" sign must look nice.
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| Wreaths, Reindeer, Nutcrackers, Tree |
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| Santa in window |
We got lucky at the next bridge. As Clark considered whether or not to drop the mast, I suggested he not bother as the bridge would open anyway momentarily. I could see traffic, that he had not noticed, waiting on the opposite side of the bridge for an opening, so I knew it would open for them. At 12:15 it opened and we scooted through after all the northbound traffic had cleared.
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| Oakland Park Bridge |
Further along, we saw what looked like a floating school bus. Clark pulled out the binoculars and saw that it said "Water Taxi" on the side.
The bus was nose in pulled up to a park to take on / discharge passengers.
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| Hugh Taylor Birch State Park |
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| Hugh Taylor Birch State Park |
As we approached the next bridge at Sunrise Boulevard, two of the water taxis passed each other just beyond the bridge.
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| Water Taxi waiting for us to pass behind him so he could pull away from the dock. |
Our next bridge encounter was with "E Las Olas" with a 24' clearance. As we approached this bridge at 12:45, we saw a catamaran waiting for the opening. The bridge had not yet started to open, so Clark called to the sailboat to tell them we would be going around them as we did not need an opening. No problem.
We passed under the bridge shortly after 12:45 and wondered if the bridge would be going up over our heads as we went through. Sadly, for the sailboat, the bridge did not open at all for this time slot. We heard the sailboat captain call the bridge tender to ask, "Why didn't you open for 12:45?'
The bridge tender replied, "I couldn't see you out there, so I didn't open". A very heated, "I called you 5 minutes before opening time. You should open now since I was here!" The bridge tender said he could not open again until 1:15. That boat owner was seething!
Watching the sights, what I found remarkable here was the architecture of some of the buildings from tall skyscrapers to mansions.
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| Pipes - looks like some work planned for here soon |
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| Interesting building design |
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| Lots of palm trees with this house |
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| Lookout tower |
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| Pretty in Pink! |
Clark was frustrated with the slow speed all along the ICW. The verbose signs with hard-to-read print did not make him happy! At least "minimum wake" was an improvement from "no wake". He could increase speed by a bit.
The last bridge of the day, the Brooks Memorial Bridge, with a clearance of 55' required no opening from us. However, we arrived there precisely in time for their 1:00 opening.
One thing a person passing through Fort Lauderdale is sure to see is mega-sized boats.
Just when you think the boats can't get any bigger, voila!
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| "Enchanted Princess" Cruise Ship |
The Brooks Memorial was our last bridge before coming to the Port of the Everglades Inlet. At 1:05, 3 hours since we left our friend's dock, we were finally nearing an escape out into the ocean!
I tried taking a picture through the bridge for a framed view.
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| Sign in yard says Manatee Zone; Slow Speed |
Even though we had made it through all the bridges, unfortunately, we had yet more delays to greet us even after we got on the outside. As we traveled today, we heard security calls for surface operations to be performed by the US Navy 1/2 nm south of the inlet and from 1/2 offshore out to 2 miles from shore. As we navigated the inlet, Clark pointed out a submarine off to the south.
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| Going out inlet |
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| US Naval Submarine near Port of the Everglades inlet |
Several commercial vessels were in the area as well.
Having dealt with all the bridge and slow-speed delays, Clark was less than pleased that we now had to go 2 miles offshore to bypass the security zone. As we made our way, we heard a call to a boat traveling north on the ocean. The navy rep clearly told them that they must go 1/2 nm south and then go west before turning north. The boater replied, "Can I just go west from here?" The rep said, "Okay. Let's do this again ...".
Next it was our turn. By following the instructions given over the VHF radio, we apparently had navigated into their security zone. As Clark talked on the VHF radio with the naval security person, a Tow Boat U.S. boat came to chase us away. The Tow Boat came so close to us I could practically shake hands with him, but Clark totally ignored him as he got instructions from the naval operations personnel. I thought the Tow Boat guy would have an apoplexy. Finally as he saw Clark turning inland, he gave me a thumbs up and turned his boat away to chase the next guy.
As Clark turned west he muttered about the complete waste of time going 2 miles offshore to be told to go back west until within 1 mile of shore! After reaching 1 nm off and turning south, the CG local notice to mariners once again broadcast their message to stay outside the 1/2 mile to 2 mile zone offshore, more misinformation from the CG as the subs had all moved east. The time was now almost 2:00 - we had been traveling for 4 hours and had covered 11 statute miles! We had two hours to Miami and a bit beyond to arrive at No Name Harbor to anchor for the night.
But ... our fun was not over yet. We had yet another interesting encounter at Baker's Haulover Inlet. This time out in the ocean. As Clark made his way south, he could see a jet boat up ahead doing circles in the ocean directly in line with our path of travel. Clark tried radioing the jet boat operator but got no answer. He must have seen us, however, since as we got nearer, he sat still until we passed and then started doing circles again.
The USCG had heard Clark call the spinning boat and radioed us to ask about "reporting a boat doing circles". Clark said he was not "reporting" he was attempting to call the owner of the boat. The USCG wanted to know if there was anyone onboard the circling boat. Clark assured them that someone was in control of the boat and most likely doing tests of some sort.
After that bit of entertainment, the day settled down into the mundane ocean travel and looking at the passing scenery. At 3:30 we were passing Miami Beach and then Miami.
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| Cape Florida Lighthouse |
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| No Name Harbor anchorage with Miami in the background |
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| Miami at sunset |
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| Sunset at No Name Harbor |
What should have taken 5 hours of travel time took over 7 hours. Clark says next time we go north to the Hillsboro Inlet and get out on the ocean faster! Meanwhile, I enjoyed all the sights and activity!
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