Up The New River

Wednesday, March 2 - Our destination today was Marina Bay Resort, which is about 5 miles up the New River.  The New River departs the ICW adjacent to downtown Ft Lauderdale.  It travels through downtown Ft Lauderdale (there is a nice river walk) and then it goes off to the south towards the airport.  We said our goodbyes to Ralph and Linda on Mazel Tug as they departed about 9:00 a.m.  

Because today's trip was short (only 20 miles) and because we wanted to wait for slack water (no current) on the New River, we did not leave until 12:30 p.m.  The New River is very narrow and there are monstrously large yachts tied up on both sides of the river.  There is little maneuvering room to be had should you find yourself bow to bow with a yacht coming down river.  Anticipating these challenges, we lowered all of our antennas and also the bimini to reduce our air draft as much as possible.  This way we could pass under all of the bridges and not have to wait for the brides to open. It was also beneficial to be traveling on a weekday as there were fewer boats on the river.  Even with this advance planning, we were forced to dodge a large tour boat coming down the river.  It is funny (not!), they think they own the river!

                                           

                                              Scenes Along The New River

A 120+ Ft. Yacht Being Towed Down The New River.  The Larger Yachts Cannot Make The Turns On Their Own.  Not Visible Is A Towboat Behind This Yacht.  The Back Towboat Controls The Stern Of The Yacht.  


We arrived at the Marina Bay Resort around 3:30 p.m. and were tied up shortly thereafter.  One interesting fact about the marina is that it is very deep (over 30 feet).  Apparently, this marina was once a rock quarry where the rock was used to build the runways at the Ft. Lauderdale International Airport.  There is a pool, hot tub, club house (and yes, internet!).  We chose this marina because this is where we will leave LeeLoo while we make a trip back to Illinois for a couple of weeks.  

                                                Pool At Marina Bay Resort

                                              Lots Of Small Lizards Live Here!

The weather has been great!  High 70's-low 80's since we've arrived.  Even the humidity is low today.  This is a nice place to be.  We did hear that the weather in Illinois will be in the 50's while we are there, so we are hoping to get in and out before it gets cold and snows again!