Providence

There are times when one gets a little tap on the back of the mind that what one has just accomplished might not be complete; that it is not finished. We left Dinner Key Marina on Biscayne Bay yesterday and decided to make of Fort Lauderdale. So, we sailed almost due south, away from Ft. Lauderdale, in order to get out of the bay without having to deal with the commercial traffic of Government Cut in Miami. It was a very nice day to be at sea. For the first time, we were actually in the North Atlantic since there is no protective reef that far north. Winds were less than 10 knots so it was another day to motor.

The four feet swell was quartering so we put up the headsail just to minimize the roll and settled in for a five hour passage to Fort Lauderdale (Port Everglades), a commercial port. Bear snuggled into the cockpit seat and tried, in vain, to get some serious knappage. The absence of wind made it hot but the thunderstorms to our south were heading our direction and promised some shade soon. We passed South Beach and Hollywood at a distance of about two miles offshore. The contrast of this place versus the swamps of Louisiana is remarkable. Not one foot of the land we passed yesterday is without some sign of development. Life guard stations are about one hundred yards apart for the whole way. We had the deep blue sea of the North Atlantic to the starboard and the sugar white beaches to port.

One thing that continuously amazes me is that we do not need music whilst at sea. Unlike our day sailing out of Port A, where we had Jimmy Buffet or some other music on all the time, we have yet to start that on this cruise. Sure, we listen to music, but don't really do it underway. The sound of the sea and the boat are music enough.

Thunderstorms were building to the south of us and at around 1300 they started to chase us. Some were lively as the lightening, something we don't want around our 58 feet lightening rod, was nailing mother earth everywhere just inshore of our course. The bogeys were everywhere and we watched them all day. The traffic was almost non-existent and we were treated once again to Mother Ocean's delights. Our destination was Lauderdale Marina, just inside the ship channel/ ICW intersection. One bridge seaparated us from the marina. Said bridge is restricted and only opens every thirty minutes. Naturally, we missed an opening by about three minutes, so we had to meander around and wait for the next. In this case there was much to see. Being a commercial port, ships were everywhere. We just did long circles for about thirty minutes until the bridge opening. A friend, Paul called and said he was on a webcam for the area and was looking at the area we occupied. Not sure if he ever saw us or not but the real time camera allowed viewers to pan around. He was looking at the same stuff we were seeing.

If there is such a thing as a pretty bridge, the 17th Street Causeway bridge in Fort Lauderdale is one. It actually has some style and is, as all Florida bridges we have encountered thus far, professionally operated.

As we have come to realize, every voyage presents some type of challenge, be it navigation, weather, or mechanical. Yesterday was no different. As we were approaching our dock space, we slowed to a very slow bell to toss lines to the dock hands. Since Bear's mobility is just now returning, I requested assistance from the dock. They sent two guys to grab our lines. While we really do not need much assistance, if any, in docking, yesterday was one of those times when it was invaluable. We were approaching a dead end dock downwind. The ability to stop is sort of important since at the end of the dock was a very impressive and brand new Boston Whaler. Methinks our anchor and bow might well have rendered a few cracks in that beauty had we not been able to stop. We set up the approach nicely, at least by our standards, and had dock lines ready. Just as it was time to toss lines to the dock guys, I put the boat into reverse to ease the motion. Bang, then nothing. No forward. No reverse. I asked the dock guy to secure the line and stop us. He did it and we slid, almost professionally up against the dock. This was important since there was a boat on the other side of the pier with crew watching the whole event. One simply does not want to crash into something with witnesses, especially from Annapolis. The "emergency" docking looked as though it was planned.

We tied off and I went below to see if the prop shaft was still in place. There have been cases where the shaft came loose from the transmission and when put in reverse, it backs out of the boat. That is not good since it leaves a rather large hole well below the water line. In our case, the shaft was still there. Good, thinks I. Bear cycled the shift lever and it operated properly in forward and reverse. Good thinks I. So, the only other thing is that the prop chose to jump ship. Fine, just fine, thinks I. Being late in the day, we decided to deal with it tomorrow and went to a dock side grub joint for some fried gator and linquini. Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow.

Tomorrow is now today and I have to investigate the run away prop situation. I mentioned that I fired the Autoprop back in Bahia Honda Key a few weeks ago. I installed the OEM prop underwater and am certain I might not have gotten the prop nut tight enough. Now, my mission today is to find a shaft key and re-install the Autoprop if the shaft is not damage. If it is, Why Knot gets to come out of the water somewhere. Until I get wet and look at it, we won't know whether or not our stay in Fort Lauderdale is two days or two weeks. Wish us luck. Once again, Mother Ocean has favored us by letting such problems happen in a slip or at a location where we can deal with it more conveniently. Fort Lauderdale, with all the boating supporting facilities, including the largets West Marine we have ever seen, is not the worst place for this to happen. I can't imagine a prop loss in some back water island in the Bahamas.