Our not fun trip from Bimini brought us to Ft. Lauderdale. We had two options of where to make landfall: Hillsboro Inlet or Ft. Lauderdale Inlet. Hillsboro is about ten miles north of Ft. Lauderdale, and in trying to negotiate the waves and currents I kept bouncing between the two. I finally decided it would make more sense to go the shortest distance as heading toward the northern inlet wasn’t making the ride any smoother. Once we were close enough to land we had procured a slip at the city marina Las Olas Marina. We were told we could have two nights and would have to depart on the third day. We agreed to this, as I wanted to have a slip and facilities to settle in to after our jaunt across the Gulf Stream. Upon arrival we called the marina and was given a a slip number and directions, as well as having someone there to assist in docking. Once we were secured, we let out a sigh of relief. It is nice to be secured in a dock after a rough trip across the Atlantic Ocean.
After I had checked in and got all of the necessary information, we used our ROAM app to ‘check in’ to the USA from our foreign port. The cool thing about the app is it allows you to check into Customs and Immigration remotely, avoiding having to physically go to a check in point in person. Once we received our verification we were cleared, another sigh of relief came over us. Now we were back in the ‘good ol’ USA’ and could now continue our journey (which is still another 3000+ miles) back to Cleveland, Ohio, enjoying the comfort and protection of the ICW. One other bonus: Since we had left Florida and returned, our time limit for taxes had reset- “Even if the boat is not initially taxable in Florida, however, the vessel will again become taxable at a rate of 6% of fair market value if the boat remains in Florida for 90 consecutive days”. Our time has now been reset. We reached out via text messages to let everyone know we were now back and called some family to let them know we are now able to be contacted again…
Lauren and I were both pretty hungry after all of this, so we set out to find an early dinner. We ended up at Quarterdeck Restaurant which is right down the street and a very short walk. We enjoyed some sushi and it felt good to relax. After dinner we walked a little farther to the beach. Spring break was in full swing so the crowds were huge and people everywhere! We strolled along the beach for a bit, then returned to the boat. We retired early after our long day, looking forward to tomorrow and what Florida has to offer.
Day 2: We spent the morning doing boat chores- cleaning up and washing down the boat, laundry, showers, etc… I had reached out to Rob K. and found out he was in Florida and after some planning arranged to meet him at the marina tomorrow morning! YAY! Rob had met us in Mackinac Island and will be the first friend to meet us twice(!) on our trip! Arrangements were made and we finished up our chores and maintenance. Later we stopped by Nanou French Bakery for some breakfast/lunch with Frank. We sat on the patio and enjoyed being back. We were certainly disappointed we couldn’t continue on in the Bahamas, but it is nice to be back. Later after lunch and returning Frank to the boat, we wandered up to the beach. The crowds were unbelievable, but we found a spot to hang out and catch some sun and swim in the ocean. We eventually returned to the boat and finished getting everything in order and I met a couple of fellow ‘Loopers’. I was explaining to them how we had to leave in the morning and was planning on anchoring around the corner but needed to figure out how to get to shore for the dog when one guy offered me to ‘raft’ our dingy off of his boat. I thought that was a great idea, since I already had the codes to the gates and would do it just for a short time. Later in the day I checked with the office to see if we could extend our stay, but was told there was no space available as someone was coming for our spot tomorrow. and there were no other slips available.
Day 3: Rob was set to arrive around 10:00am. We got up early and made sure we were ready for our first guest since Jack visited us in January. Around 9:30 Rob let us know he was about thirty minutes away. We were all set for our visitor and for our 11am departure, so I walked up to meet him in the parking lot. We went back to the boat and we all hung out for a while and caught up on what we all had been doing in the last few months. I forgot about the time and quickly realized it was time to depart the dock. As we were pulling out I saw the dockmaster coming down to either assist or tell us we had to go, but either way we were leaving before he got to us. I had scoped out an anchorage about two hundred yards away from the marina, just around a small bend in the ICW where a couple of other boats were anchored too. We made our way over there with Rob as a passenger and dropped anchor. Now we had to sit and make sure the anchor was holding and we weren’t going to drag. After an hour we all loaded into the dinghy and headed for shore. I dropped everyone off and tied off to the other Looper’s boat as planned. We then walked up the street to the “World Famour Elbo Room Since 1938“. From their website: “To say the Elbo Room is just a beach bar is like describing the Sistine Chapel as just a room in a church. A historic dive featured in the landmark 1960 Spring Break movie “Where the Boys Are,” partiers can find cheap drinks, late hours and the comfort of knowing this is where the locals are. And it is cash only”. The place is a dive bar, but very cool to be there! We enjoyed a few beverages and then took advantage of Rob having a vehicle. He took us to a grocery store where Lauren did some shopping while Rob and I had a snack at P.F Changs next door. Lauren called us and let us know she was done after awhile and we picked her up at the store. We dropped everything off at the boat and hung out there for a little bit more. Eventually we were all getting hungry and decided to go get happy hour at Casablanca Cafe. We enjoyed their happy hour menu and ordered quite a few items. We all were having a great time! Eventually after we were all full from the food and drinks, we had to make our way back to the marina. At this point it was time for Rob to start heading back as he had driven three hours to come for the visit! We bid our farewells and watched Rob head out. I took Lauren back to the boat and retrieved Frank so he could get to shore for some land time.
Tomorrow we will be going backwards a bit, as we want to visit Key Biscayne, Coconut Grove, Miami Beach, and a few other cities along the way. Our plan is to head south in one jump, then turn around and come north in smaller jumps so we can stop at those places. Several years ago Lauren and I took our American Sailing Association courses in Florida and the Teacher/Captain brought us to Key Biscayne, so we want to see if we can re-visit some of the sights he had pointed out to us…