Miamarina to Lantana - March 24

We left Miamarina at 7:45 this morning, just getting to the first lift bridge at 8 when it opened. We traveled up the ICW (Intercoastal Waterway) through Miami, North Miami, Hollywood, Ft Lauderdale, Pampano Beach, Boca Raton, Delray Beach and Boynton Beach before anchoring at Lantana at 5:00 p.m. A long day.

The waterway is pretty narrow. We could see the beautiful homes, high rises and hotels on either side of us. North Miami and Hollywood had areas of unkempt homes and broken down sea walls. We were alongside of the Ft. Lauderdale shipyards, then through areas of super yachts and huge estates. Many of the homes were for sale.

There were a lot of bridges along the way. We were able to go under about half of them, without needing them to open. Most of the lift bridges are on a schedule and open on the quarter hour, half hour or every 20 minutes. So depending on when you arrive at the bridge you may have quite a wait. Waiting for bridges really adds to your travel time, especially when you are only traveling 7-8 mph. It also adds to your distance for the day, since sometimes we run in circles while waiting for the bridge opening. At times we were running against a 2-3 knot current, which also slowed us down.

We are looking forward to getting a good nights sleep.