Fort Pierce to Fort Lauderdale

While in Fort Pierce waiting for our outboard engine to be repaired, we met up a few times with our friends Sharon and Greg whose sailboat was at a marina in nearby Stuart. We rented a car, visited Stuart and Vero Beach, saw a couple of films, bought and hauled a lot of groceries and wine to the boat, visited museums and generally behaved like tourists. Greg took this photo of us at Cobalt in Vero Beach.

We spent New Year's Eve Day at a waterfront sports bar in Vero with Sharon, Greg and their friends Marilyn and Bob. Had a great brunch with lots of oysters and mimosas. Another day we had a fun getting together with the same group at a tapas bar in Fort Pierce.

The weather stayed cool and very windy until about January 6. The beach at Vero didn't look very inviting, as you can see here. Most cruisers were hunkering down and staying put until the weather changed. 

After it warmed up to the 40s at night (and we got our outboard back), we figured we could manage without being plugged into a space heater at a dock and left Fort Pierce to continue south. We spent the next couple of nights anchored just off the ICW. It was chilly be bearable at night and quite windy and cool during the day, but ok for traveling because the north wind was at our backs. If you're creating 6 knots of breeze as you travel south with 18 knots of wind behind you from the north, it feels like 12 knots - not so bad with gloves and hats!!

At one point while waiting for a bridge to open we were very close to a golf course. I wondered if anyone had ever been hit by a golf ball on their boat. That would be pretty weird. 

The next day was much warmer and as we travelled through a narrow part of the ICW, a paddle boarder took advantage of our small wake to surf a little. I still can't get videos to load in Blogger, so this is just a photo of him with the front of his board right out of the water. The video is on Instagram - look for cspsail. 

By the third day, we were well into a very densely populated part of the coast just north of Fort Lauderdale and had to get through 14 bridges to cover only 35 miles, which is frustrating and time consuming. These bascule bridges generally open only twice an hour and you do a lot of "hurry up and wait". It was also quite rainy and hard to see through the dodger. No windshield wipers.

When the sun came out I began to amuse myself by taking photos of stuff along the way that was "different". Like the purple trim and pilings in front of this place - makes it easier for your friends to find you when they come by boat for dinner, I guess.

Massive and very numerous Christmas gingerbread decorations

This place must be owned by a truly OCD person. Jammed inside and out with everything you could think of.

Although you couldn't see the mansion here, the huge, shiny gold gates certainly were eye-catching.

The houses are often immense and sometimes look so impersonal they could be office buildings. Unless of course you tack on a tiki bar in the garden :-)

This one was the craziest to me.  Zoom in on this photo. This whole thing is someone's HOME.

Finally we got to our destination and we'll be here for at least a week. We've stayed at this private residence before. It's on a corner lot in a very central location and was owned until this last year by a lovely older fellow who is now in a nursing home. It's been sold as a tear-down to another person who for the moment is still renting out slips for about 6 boats. The docks are in poor repair, but you pay $20/day and that includes electric and water. So it's great!! Below is a view from our cockpit of one of the three canals that converge behind us.

Below is the house - empty now and looking very ill-kept and sad. 

 Here are the current slip renters, including Neverland in the foreground.

This used to be a funky outdoor shower in a little wooden enclosure - now gone and just a mess. 

On a brighter note, we took a walk yesterday to uor favorite bakery, Gran Forno, on Las Olas Blvd and had lunch - a terrific sandwich and a delicious shared peach tart.

On Las Olas there are many shops and galleries. One is of huge National Geographic photos and I sneaked a picture of a polar bear doing a bear version of Child's Pose.

Jim liked this architectural juxtaposition of a glass tower and an old wooden steeple

 At Las Olas (or Broward?) and about 2nd or 3rd, the intersection is painted in lots of colors

 Shiny glasses, shiny walls in a bar

Have you ever seen one of these UPS vehicles? We hadn't!! The guy driving it smiled and waved as I grabbed my phone to take the picture.

 Why does anyone need 4 huge engines on a powerboat in the middle of a big city?

Not sure what this is but it's very common here and very pretty.

 Here is Gran Forno - great bread and other baked treats!!

My favorite house on Las Olas. The uppermost level has a peach colored ceiling.

Here's a glimpse of the peach ceiling through the palm trees

The entrance has little decorative geckos on the stucco

And a colored glass fish hanging from a lamp post.

Fort Lauderdale has many, many canals and the Middle and New Rivers to explore by dinghy, so that's mostly what we'll be doing in the coming days. You can get to the grocery store by dinghy, the laundromat, whatever. So more photos to come soon!