An anchor, three trips to BOW & Sailorman, and a new head hose. Oh My!

We've been here in Ft. Lauderdale moored by the Las Olas City dock since...oh heck I don't know. Five or six days maybe? We'll be here another week until Just Catamarans can take us--hopefully the week after Thanksgiving. 

There's a story about why we are here and not on the way to Key Largo (involves a 56' fixed bridge in Miami that I missed in the guide books - doh! - as well as weather opposite of what we need to go outside again)...

The 195 Bridge (fixed at 56') is why we are not sitting in Largo now; that and the wind that is from the south when we need it to be from the north and then is from the north when we need it to be from the south...

But let me try to catch up on what we've been doing.  Hint: West Marine twice, Boat Owners Warehouse three times, Sailorman three times, a dive shop, and a CVS for another ice pack (what can I say, I'm a klutz).  We have biked over three days to said stores nine miles round trip but I did get my jog and nearly died after not running for weeks.  We'll be taking another trip over today.  The bikes have been perfect and this is exactly why we got them!  Mark gave you the technical play by play in his post but you don't get the experience of humidity (it's Florida after all) and we have spared you the smell of the head hose replacement--Ew, super Ew.  Boating involves 75% work and it all costs three times as much as you think and takes at least twice as long to do.

So you don't think it's been all boat errands and chores, there's also been a fancy lunch, Einsteins Bagels, dinners out, IPAs & margaritas multiple times, etc so it all evens out. I even got comped two very generous glasses of wine a few nights ago ;-)  Now, I will say that 'going to the beach' is way behind in the activity standings at zero times so far (that's really more of a Suzanne thing) but today after we go get my wetsuit, maybe buy one for Mark, and FINALLY go to Publix, it gets its turn in the limelight I hope.  I give it about a 30% chance.  Tonight we are going to the Beach Lighting event which should be really neat and completely 100% new for us!  I think I lost the battle of participating in the Turkey Trot.

Tomorrow it is supposed to rain again so I have attempted to designate that as chore day:  sewing cockpit side cover, splicing the new anchor rode/chain, prepping the electronics panel for the new ammeter, etc.  Other things I would like to do while we are here include:  Walking down Las Olas Blvd and the Riverwalk, seeing Interstellar at the science museum, seeing Mockingjay at the super fancy AMC dine-in theater, going to the beach ;-)

So here's an excessive pictorial summary of our lives the past however long it's been. I'll add captions when I have time. It's going to be 80 something degrees today and humid again, hope it's warm where you are.  Cheers!

 Thursday 11/20 - first in a series of bike outings

Lunch view

Sailorman--I've now been here three times...three

This bruiser was protecting the bikes at this rental shop--he was a little bad ass

Shiny!

Served us well and can now rest for a while--thanks Fortress

Friday:  11/21 - 20-30 mph wind and rain all day

Rained all day and super windy--I left the cabin for a total of an hour all day--no kidding

See the palm fronds pointing west?!

Then this yacht came through escorted by two boats--talk about a princess

How we had happy hour that rainy windy day

Saturday 11/22 - we emerge from the cave and took another bike ride

Still so freaking windy but we are getting off this boat!

Not a good sailing day!

Biked over the 17th Street Bridge without stopping--no heart attacks were had this day

Many cruise ships in port today

At the top of the bridge

Lemme take a selfie!

Biguns

Well surely you need a helopad and a hot tub - that's a garage for yacht toys there on the first level.

2-4-1 at Sangrias--not much on taking food orders there but the burrito we got as an app was good

Clearly happy to have survived my trip to West Marine and Sailorman

Fuzzy but I do love Christmas light displays--especially to excess

Sunday 11/23 - Island Khaya enjoyed the bikes this day so we got in jog and a ICW tour

OMG is that sun? blue sky?  Woohoo!

Well that feels funny

After we jogged and walked, we grabbed lunch at Spazios.  That man over there had just been 'talked to' by the fuzz, made to lay down and searched with gloves then cited...not sure why since he was not making a fuss or bothering anyone plus went about his "art" sales after they left.  Funny that the blond lady who finagled herself inside our marina gates was not told to lay down or searched with gloves...maybe because it was a police officer who let her in the gates? 

Full mooring field because Monday is THE day to cross to the Bahamas--very short window so everyone was staging for it.

We took a dinghy tour--Mark was super excited

This is for sale--last price I saw was $38M...anyone interested?

Yacht haven around here

Echo is also for sale.  Am I a dork that I loved the name of the tender?  Echo-Echo, get it? Ha cute!

Triplets

Again, FULL mooring - by day break, 3/4 of them were gone, off for Bahamas

Just hanging out in our little mini lagoon off the ICW

Monday 11/24 - Absolutely "Florida" day.  Took out the bikes again back to boat shops and bought a wetsuit.

YES, an awesome Florida day, even if it was hot and humid

I did not intend to be hauling 125' of line by bike for 4 miles...contrary to what you may have read, I was not smiling the whole way.  But don't tell the Captain.

Best girlfriend ever ^^^

Changes every time I look it up but I'll take it

Boating is super sexy, not disgusting and smelly at all...nooooo, gag

You can't tell but that is condensation on the outside of the door---because we were sitting in cold AC while it was sopping humid and hot outside--80 degrees at like 8pm.  We are spoiled rotten brats!