Breezy? Windy!

Is this a Greek temple?  No, it is just one of the many beautiful homes lining the ICW north of Ft. Lauderdale.  

Not a lot of people were traveling north today on the ICW, but we were!  We looked at the wind forecast for 20 mph winds and decided that we would be well protected in the "ditch" so we would go north.  This plan worked well for almost the entire trip.  Our problem came at the end when it was time to anchor.

We drove from below, inside the cabin of our trawler today.  We were cozy as we motored under 15 bridges.  We had to ask 6 of them to open for us because they were lower than 17 feet, our height.  George had written out all the bridges and their heights, so we crossed them off as we passed.
We stopped at the Sands Harbor Marina for a pump out since the pump wasn't working at Las Olas this morning.  The dock master was so kind and helpful.  The wind was fierce, but he came out and pulled us close and also threw off our lines after the job.  Thank you!

This is the Ocean Avenue Bridge near Lantana.  It looks like an escapee from Disney.  Very pretty.

We also passed houses with Greek statuary and one that had a giraffe sculpture looking over the back fence.  Even the fanciest homes had chairs out, facing the ICW to watch the daily parade of boats.  We saw two different boats being towed today.  (Not a good sign.)  Here's the  second:

                                          See how small the tow boat is compared to the yacht?  Interesting. I wonder how they stop. There is a second boat behind the yacht too.  

At about 3:00 pm we approached our anchorage, just south of the Lantana Bridge.  After a fine day on the water, the wind and waves had picked up in Lake Worth.  There was too much space, and the waves were building due to the fetch available.  We were surprised to be fighting waves at the end of the day.  Usually anchorages are quiet and woodsy.  Lantana Anchorage was a small almost urban area with lots of docked boats and a restaurant. We puttered in, hoping the wind would die down.  No luck.  

I called Loggerhead Marina, which is just on the other side of Lantana Bridge.  Yes, they had a slip available.  Yahoo!  We motored in and had a heck of a time getting tied up.  Two guys grabbed our lines and pulled.  Then we went in too far, and our anchor scraped the front of the slip.  Arghh!  Two other guys pushed us off.  Guys kept asking for lines, and I kept running around, finding lines and throwing them.  Finally, we were tied to the dock.  Even after we were set, we needed two lines off the stern to keep our boat from going forward.  So George got out the dinghy. (We added air to it.) He paddled over to two different pilings and looped lines around them, and then I tied these to the boat.  I could tell he was having fun with this problem solving exercise. Now we are safe and secure for a big wind.  

Of course, we are tired too and ready for the much deserved g + t.  The sun is shining.  The cabin is warm.  We are safe and happy.  Another day on the trip north is complete.