Death by a Thousand Bridges
27 November 2009

Actually it was 17 bridges but it seemed like a thousand! We had wonderful Thanksgiving night at Lake Worth and left in the morning to head to Fort Lauderdale. We didn't take into account that it was a sunny Friday after Thanksgiving and that everyone and his dog would be out on the waterway. Add in all the bridges and it made for a long tedious day. Some bridges open on the hour and half hour, some 15 and 45 minutes of the hour - some we could make if we went really fast and some we just had to give up on and go really, really slow so we didn't get there too soon. After about the 10th bridge I decided to add to our excitement by letting go of the dinghy line as I was letting out. I will never forget the sight of our beloved Fatty Knees surfing away all by herself, trailing her painter behind her like a puppy trailing his lead! Thankfully my quick witted Captain was able to turn Osprey around and I was able to snag the errant vessel with the boat hook. We didn't make it to Fort Lauderdale but anchored in a little pocket of water to one side of the ICW just north. The evening was brightened by the sight of Charisma pulling into the anchorage beside us just as it got dark. They had left Stuart that morning and did much better with the bridges than we did. We had been listening to them getting closer and closer all day. Somehow Steven has the knack of persuading the bridge tenders to stay open a little longer so he could squeak through.