Great Times with New Friends!!

We arrived in Ft. Lauderdale on Thursday around noon. We had hoped to pick up a mooring ball at the city marina, but there were none available. So we went to plan 'B' which was to motor up New River to a marina where the Tucker family had recommended and were staying. We had been warned about the strong current up the winding river, and knew the recommendation was to approach the docks at slack water, but thought we'd give it a try. Approaching the first major bend we found ourselves on the wrong side of the channel, looking for deeper water with a large power boat proceeding downriver. This surprise, along with the current of about 3 knots caused us to turn around and head for an anchorage to wait for better conditions. The little spot we were headed for was Lake Sylvia which posed it's own challenges. The approach instructions say to 'hug the east breakwall, about 50 feet off the pilings'. The current was still pretty strong and so Greg had to point the bow of Cee Jem somewhat toward the cement wall in order to account for the drift caused by the current. It was all very surreal and was an excellent lesson in drift!
Once arriving in the anchorage, the next task was to find an appropriate spot to set the anchor. There were already a few boats established, so we needed to give enough room for them, and us to swing without conflict. We found as good a spot as we could, but would have liked to have put out a bit more chain for holding power in the wind that picked up overnight. In the end, Greg was up for a lot of the night watching the anchor alarm, and catching up on his e-mail.
Friday morning we pulled out of the anchorage at 8:30. We wanted to get up the New River at high tide, slack water and there were 3 bridges that had to open for us, but they don't open until 9am on weekdays, following rush hour. By 9:30 we were settled at Cooley's Landing marina, and with the help of Chris and Ben from the sailboat Dharma, had tied our lines and secured our boat. Jessica and Madeline were very excited to have arrived, as there are now 3 boats with kids at this marina. Greg and I were equally excited to meet other cruising families. In a previous post I have spoken about Kerry, Julie, Connor and Dylan from the catamaran sailboat Hi-5. They are from Milton and headed to the Bahamas. We have now met Chris, Courtney, Ben and Cole on the sailboat Dharma. They are from North Carolina and also headed to the Bahamas, and perhaps beyond....? We are all planning to be here until early in the week when we hope to all go "outside", meaning out into the ocean to make our passage from Ft. Lauderdale to Miami.
On Saturday night a sundown party was planned and by dusk about 25 people from at least 8 boats had gathered under the picnic pavilion at the marina to share munchies, drinks and conversation. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and feel that our long haul south has all been worth it to finally get into the groove of "cruising".