Fryedaze Cruising Adventures: April 16 No Name Anchorage to Hollywood, FL

As we mentioned in the last blog we knew that we were in for a lot of bridges (14 and 3 that required openings on DAY 1) but no one told us how many No Wake Zones, Slow Manatee Zones, fishing - boats and crazy boaters we would encounter (thank heavens we got an early start!) But the views were spectacular- from the architecture of the city buildings, coming up to all the cruise ships in Miami Harbor in the Government Cut, the huge opulent houses and boats that were bigger than our MD house! I wouldn't have traded it for anything- but I think it was a little stressful on Dave (just like NYC harbor)!

We finally made it to the City of Hollywood Municipal Marina. We were so happy to see JamminJane's Grand Banks on the dock right down from us! We had been warned that the approach to this marina was tricky and we should stay as close to the t-head as we could. Dave brought her in very slowly and just took his time coming down the fairway. The only slip that was available was at the very end against the wall. We backed into the slip so it would make it easier to leave on Monday. As we were getting lines tied we saw Jane and Ben coming down in front on their dinghy with their dog Crockett. I was so happy to see them! We invited them over to have a frozen drink with us when they got settled. Happily they brought the dog- I miss so much having a dog on board. They were heading to lunch afterwards so we decided to walk over to the beach after we got everything settled.

The bridge over to the beach is the one we had just come under on the ICW. It is really a unique bridge design as are many of the bridges in Florida. There was lots of traffic and people and it was fun and just a wee bit scary trying to cross A1A over to the beach. Once there the ocean was beautiful and very, very rough. We had been experiencing 18-20 mile per hour winds all day and they were expected to be higher for the next four days. There were a few swimmers in the water- but not many. We enjoyed people watching and staring at the beautiful water!

We ordered a pizza and settled in for the evening as we were once again expecting rain. We finally had t.v. after not having anything since March 1st and were happy just watching and relaxing!

The next day after cleaning up the boat- the storm had brought a lot of palm and tree dirt on to the boat, we decided to walk the 7 blocks to catch the local trolley. It was really pleasant going through the neighborhoods and seeing all the beautiful homes. We caught the trolley with every intention of getting out in the "historical" area but when we went through the town there really wasn't a lot to see so we stayed on and got out at the beginning of the boardwalk. We walked and walked and walked! But it was really fun and I got to see a lot of "different" kinds of people! The boardwalk was packed for a Sunday. No one was allowed to swim because of the high surf and rip tide warnings. We heard lots of loud Latino music playing, people dancing, eating and just generally having a great time. We even saw a venue that you can learn to surf (see the video!)

We ended up at 5 o'clock Somewhere- another Jimmy Buffet Margaritaville. We enjoyed a live band playing and watching all the boats coming up and down the ICW- until we saw an older Hatteras come by with a lot of scantily clad girls on the front! I no sooner said that the girls are the only thing the boat had going for it when they lost control of the boat and either the engines shut down or they lost steering. They were drifting backwards in the current directly into two paddleboarders- one of which had a dog on it! I kept looking away I couldn't stand watching. Somehow they were able to get the boat into the anchorage right in front of our marina where they through down the anchor. It seemed like it took an hour rather than just minutes but it was like watching a trainwreck! We relaxed afterwards with another orange crush (Dave) and club soda (me) and more music! After walking back over the bridge to the boat we went over to Jane and Ben's boat for appetizers and drinks. It was great to have to time talk about our travels and plans for the next couple of weeks- we hadn't seen them since having lunch at Burdines. They would be unable to leave the next day with us as they were waiting for their props to be put back on their boat. Ben thought they would be able to leave on Wednesday and we should catch up with them in Titusville over the weekend!

One of many bridges we would have to time going north through this area. The bridges have specific schedules for openings and you have to time your arrivals to meet them.