14 Feb - Lake Sylvia, Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Opus
Bridget & Nick Gray
Sat 14 Feb 2015 14:53


Another cool and windy week in Riviera Beach, best described on the radio with: Enjoy this cool spell and the last chance to wear those favourite jumpers – everything is relative!

We enjoyed the cool spell by finishing more of the endless tasks including completing the trampolines and putting a new trim around the cockpit roof. It looks better and hopefully will reduce Nicks skin loss when he fails to duck.


Last night we had to wrestle with a strange tide vs wind phenomenon. The boat faced the wind but the current pushed it backwards so the anchor was directly below the hull. Not a problem for monohulls but we have a rope bridle that attaches to the anchor chain and it began to rub on the wires at the front of the boat. The boat also starting swinging in 180 degree arcs. We did eventually get it sorted but obviously a peculiarity of the intracoastal waterway.


This morning we debated whether to go the 40 mile to Fort Lauderdale on the ICW as  it is one of the few sections with lifting bridges that can accommodate our mast. It meant motoring all the way though, and passing through 21 bridges that only open on the half hour, and the water gets very turbulent as the cumulative wakes from traffic build up over the day. So we went back out into the Atlantic where it was calm and sunny with just enough wind to sail all the way. Strange, large waves were visible on the horizon though – most likely the western edge of the Gulf Stream.


So now we are back in the warm and peaceful Lake Sylvia looking at a photo from Chuck that shows Stony Creek enveloped in ice again and apparently -2C. Can’t say we miss those temperatures much. The photo also shows their beautiful new retaining walls down to the dock.

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