Left Ft. Lauderdale at 0700 to make Miami by 1300. Pretty uneventful other than the weather and one bridge tender. First, the weather: warm for the most part, but hit by two squalls that literally made it impossible to see more than 100' or so. They were short lived and the sun followed. I have heard this is the way it works down here, but that was my first experience. Looking forward to learning more about these things. I read a good article about anticipating the direction of the squalls and actually using them to your advantage in terms of taking advantage of the wind freshening. I guess you can actually find yourself in the doldrums on the backside of these things if you are not paying attention and then you go no where.

I finally had enough of these smart ass bridge tenders - got a really bad one today going through Hollywood. I lost the clutch between my brain and my mouth and said in as nice of a tone with as much sarcasm as I could muster, that he should consider another line of work. Not good - the next three bridge tenders would not even answer me on the radio, making me wonder each time if they were actually going to open or not. They did of course, but it was their way of showing me who was boss. But man, I felt really good for about 10 minutes, knowing I had said what everyone else was thinking about these guys. Of course, no one else piled on in my behalf. Guess I still need to grow up a little, or pick my times more carefully!

I saw the largest cruise ship ever today as I was passing the port in Ft. Lauderdale - Navigator of the Seas. There were others too, but this thing was gargantuan! Attached is a picture, and not sure you can get a true sense of just how large this thing is, but when you're sitting in your little sailboat next to it, you feel VERY small.

Rode my little bike down Lincoln Ave in Miami Beach to South Beach. This place is Church Street in Burlington on steroids. Lots of neat shops, restaurants, outside dining, entertainment, etc. Clearly influences from the Latin community, but also the glitz of the rich and famous right next to dirty street people. What an interesting contrast - the extremes of both ends of the spectrum in terms of lifestyle and wealth, coexisting - sort of. There must be a way to correct that picture somehow - I only wish I knew how ... I guess if I did, you would be voting for me for president! And before I strike the political chord, I'll just say it's time to run - also leaving you with a sunset pic with the Miami skyline and a neighbor boat in the foreground.