Marine Stadium in Miami - Early start

 

We are out on the ocean before sunrise

We wanted to take the Angelfish Creek crossover from the ocean side to the bay but high tide was at 6:25 am and was going to take us three hours to reach the entrance so we had an early morning departure, 7:00 am. 

There were lots of boats but it’s such a big anchorage that there’s always room somewhere.

The sun was not up yet but it was light enough to negotiate the canal. The ocean was flat calm, a relief from yesterday with winds less than 10 kts. We wanted to cross over at Angelfish Creek so if the winds did pick up on the afternoon, at least we didn’t have to contend with ocean swells.

The rowing teams were out in force, 2 men, 4 men, and 8 men teams

As it turned out, the winds remained less than 10 kts all the way north and it was a pleasant ride to Marine Stadium. We anchored and was surprised at the lack of party boats. It was a Sunday night but we still didn’t hear any music or boats going by with speakers blaring. There was a patrol boat slowly cruising the perimeter and we didn’t see any jet skis. The local rowing club was out in full force and they can’t practice if there are jet skis stirring up the water. 

Marine Stadium is a big anchorage, there’s always room somewhere to anchor. We found our spot deep into the anchorage and wetted our new anchor for the first time, a Spade 140 (66 lbs) and 90 feet of 3/8 BBB chain spliced to 5/8 inch nylon rode, we’re not going anywhere with that combination. 

The news of the day is that Ft Lauderdale is fully booked, there’s not a slip to be had anywhere! I tried every marina in Ft Lauderdale next to the ICW - they are all full. Several reported that they are booked solid for the entire month! Since I couldn’t get a slip for Tuesday, I asked for a slip on Saturday (after the storms) but even that far out, I was put on a waiting list! 

Given our problems in getting a slip, we decided to make it a long day and just head directly to the Lantana anchorage, 56 NM north. From there we’ll head to our favorite anchorage on Hobe Sound and then on to Vero Beach. We’re waiting for a call back on slips there too. It must be a busy year for marinas. They’ve all drastically raised prices. What used to be a $2.00 or $2.25/ft slip is now $4.00 to $5.25/ft slip! Whatever happened to 6% inflation? We’re talking 100% inflation! The same goes for fuel. I’d be happy with only 6% inflation, it’s the 100% increases that has me up tight. Will boating crash at these prices? We’ll wait and see.