We only had two drawbridges left between us and the Fort Lauderdale ocean inlet, and we knocked them off at 6:45 and 7:00 am. Then we donned our jackets and our life jackets and gallantly motored out into the ocean at Fort Lauderdale and turned south for Miami. Even though the winds were light, the sun was out, the seas were almost flat, and the ocean front scenery on the beach to our west was fabulous. We put out the jib to give a little extra push and to stabilize the boat in the wakes of other boats going by. As we motor-sailed past Fort Lauderdale and North Miami Beach we realized that we’d gotten such an early start that we should not go into Miami as planned. After studying the charts, we decided to head straight to Rodriguez Key, which was our intended Saturday stop. We dropped anchor at 5pm, a long day for us, but we traveled almost 80 miles and are us just 56 miles from Marathon. Based on the weather forecast, we hope to sail half way tomorrow, anchor and barbecue steaks for New Year’s Eve. Then sail the rest of the way to Marathon on Sunday. Counting today, we opened a total of 34 drawbridges just in Florida. The picture above is the last one, the 17th St. Bridge in Fort lauderdale. The Captain.
We made it to the keys! We arrived at this next key down from Key Largo in time to eat dinner in the cockpit just as the sun was setting for our entertainment. The Admiral