Downtown in the "Venice" of America Jan 18-21

After being advised by the police that we could not anchor more than a day anywhere in the city limits we upped our anchor in the morning and said goodbye to the Middle River and hello to the New River. This is the main river that goes through the heart of the city and is lined with canals. We wanted to stay a bit longer here so we opted for a marina. To our delight the city marina on the New River was only 90 cents a foot with our BoatUS discount. That came out to be less than the mooring ball at the other marina. The trick was getting there. The marina was a ways up the river and as we started up we realized it was not a casual ride up the river. It is narrow, very winding, and has a swift current as the tides turn. But most concerning was the mega yacht traffic. After all this is the yachting capital of the world and there is no short supply a crazy sized craft. Our 34’ is very tiny here. As we made our way along these larger-than-life boats would be coming downstram towards us taking up most of the space. My grip on the wheel would tighten in proportion to the proximity of the others and it would go into full iron grip at some wild corners. These guys take the corners in a skidding manoever throwing their stern over to our side. We would watch as they would maddly spin their steering wheels compensating for the sliding motion, while I would feel my lips dry and crack as I held our course. And then we had to wait for bridge to open with the tourboat “Jungle Queen” breathing down our back. We heard it coming on the radio and when we turned to look, we had to look up. Gulp – get the bridge open please! As soon as we popped though the bridge we slid over to the wall and tied up at our docking spot. Phew! You can see in the picture the scale of Tiffany Rose, the little sailboat tied up to the right of the bridge, and the other boats of larger proportions. This unplanned stop has proven to be a very good one. We are right downtown tied up along the beautiful Riverwalk - a redbrick landscaped pathway along the river. Nearby is the upscale Las Olas blvd with all its glamour, a short shuttle ride to the beach, a short walk to the grocery store and best of all a train track within sight! In our four days here we’ve taken advantage of it all. We even went out to a night spot with live music, beer and chocolate milk for Christopher. He was groovin’ with the tunes when they played good ones! We’ve also taken this time to stockpile some food should we decide to cross to the Bahamas soon. Not sure if we will since there are other places we want to go as well, but it is good to be ready.