We're in the Hall of Fame...Marina

Well, today was an interesting day. We did some errands in the morning, filled the tanks, and the guy who will be working on the teak stopped by to give us an estimate and check out the boat. We left the New River around 11:30. Bill did a great job of leaving the slip and turning around in the narrow river in between all of the water taxi / tour boat / pleasure craft traffic. We motored back towards the New River and enjoyed the scenery.

There are many stunningly huge mega yachts docked in Ft. Lauderdale. Between the amazing homes and the v-e-r-y large motor yachts -- the wealth is just unimaginable. There are literally dozens of huge boats docked all over the place. See below...

So... we thought we would be staying at Las Olas Marina for a week or so while the work is done on the boat. We called ahead and got no answer from the marina. We did eventually get a call on the VHF from the New River Dockmaster (the place we left earlier in the day) who gave us a slip assignment (New River and Las Olas are both municipal marinas and are all on the same team). The first slip they told us to go to was about 30 feet. We called back and got another slip. Meanwhile the current was roaring and unfortunately the one dockmaster was at lunch and was unable to catch our lines. No worries. I was all set to hop off and tie us off, and Bill was in the middle of a great docking. Then we lost our bow thruster; the fuse was shot. My friends, on a 52 foot single screw boat, a bow thruster is key --especially docking in a tight spot, stern to, with the current with us, and a bridge to contend with. So... we eventually got into the slip; we were cockeyed for awhile and had to pull the boat in (yeah, it weighs several tons so that wasn't fun) Somehow I managed to kneel in a pile of fiberglass (or something?) so my knee / shin / ankel is all sore and itchy. Anyway, we eventually got sv Mary Elizabeth in her slip and tied up all safe and sound. However --- as I was turning off the electronics, I looked at the depth finder -- which read 6.5 feet. And we were at high tide. So... needless to say, we could not stay.

We called around to another marina since there are a dozen or so in the area and ended up at Hall of Fame Marina. The staff is great and someone was able to catch our lines. Bill did a great job docking without a bow thruster. And the marina is awesome. We are one block from the beach, our slip is plenty deep, the marina is secure / gated, they have laundry facilities, and they recycle. So, things work out for a reason, I guess.