Sunday, February 5, 1995 - Fort Lauderdale, FL

We're "enduring" what the locals call a "cold spell". A cold spell in Southern Florida means it's advisable to put on a light jacket or sweater in the evening. During the day, of course, shorts and a T-shirt are fine. Brrr. How do we stand it?
A guy came by and bought the other two chart books that we had for sale. That is, he put a $10 deposit on them. He'll return tomorrow with the balance.
In the morning, I paddled up the South Fork of New River, while Roy rigged up the line for a sea anchor or drogue. It was a perfect day for Royaking, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Went past several of the boatyards I'd contacted.
We had planned on taking the two o'clock bus to Stacey's. I was a few minutes late getting back to the boat, and to my amazement there were motorboats on both sides of the ramp. Probably the only time all day that there were two boats in there. I lost several minutes waiting for one to leave. By the time I got my Royak on the boat and changed my clothes, it was quarter to two. We still might have made it, but some sort of festival was going on along the Riverwalk and it was well-nigh impossible to plow through the crowds. We saw the bus go over the bridge when we were half a block from Andrews. The next bus was due in 45 minutes, so we sat by the river for a while, enjoying the fresh air and scenery. Then we strolled to the terminal and got there in plenty of time for the next bus.
Stacey's was packed. The line went out the door, but eventually we got in and pigged out. The food was delicious as always, and so much to choose from! We don't know how they do it. When we left, the line was even longer than when we arrived.
When we got back to downtown Fort Lauderdale, Roy returned to the boat, and I went to the library to look up boatyards in the Miami phone book. Wrote down the names, addresses, and phone numbers of all of them except the ones I'd already called. When I got back to the boat, a nice young couple, Jan and Jim, were talking with Roy. They had lived in Miami for years and had had a small sailboat. They told us there was only one good boatyard in Miami where you can do your own work, live on your boat, not have to buy at their store, and the rates are reasonable. The yard is at Dinner Key and is run by the city. We'll go down there tomorrow to check it out.