We were told by a local resident that most of Ft. Lauderdale is related either to marine or tourism.  It does seem that way.  We have a wide choice of stores to purchase from while outfitting Seas the Day, and West Marine has their “flagship store” here.  Still, we find the best buys online as the prices almost everywhere we go are very inflated.  Since we are located in Ft. Lauderdale Beach, the stores and restaurants appeal to that segment of the tourists.  There are many high rise condos and hotels, but most of the lights are off at night, so I suppose the “snowbirds” aren’t here and the few year long residents are living there.

In the picture above, the road into the marina is on the left and that is our route to the beach.  It’s a mere two block walk and we are on the walkway next to the sandy beach.  Since this isn’t exactly “tourist season” the swimmers and sunbathers are few and far between, probably people taking advantage of off season prices.  Once we are at the edge of the marina, there is a wide choice of eateries.  We have only eaten out a handful of times and have stuck to The Quarterdeck, a pet friendly casual restaurant with outside eating, and a pizza shop a mile or so down A1A.  Of course, we have visited numerous Starbucks around the city and there are four within two miles and ten within five miles.  Unfortunately, we haven’t walked to any of them yet as it’s too hot and the nearest is probably a mile away.

We discovered a very nice shopping area with a large clean Publix Grocery, banks, a wide variety of stores, and yes, a Starbucks.  When we go there, we are probably seeing the real residents, not the tourists who frequent the beach near us.  They are mostly friendly, not quite up to “Minnesota Nice” standards though. 

The drivers are something else.  Defensive driving and defensive walking are a must.  Most people jaywalk in front of the police.  From what we understand, there is no written test to get a Florida driver’s license as long as you are licensed in another state.  This is unlike Minnesota where you have to study for the written test or you won’t pass it. 

In the  3 1/2 weeks we’ve been in Ft. Lauderdale, our daily schedules have been mainly focused on unpacking what we brought from Minnesota, putting it away and buying more to outfit the boat.  We learned that BOAT means “Bring Out Another Thousand” as this is an expensive project.  However, this is our house and we are treating it as such when we make purchases.  We have purchased the major items, but still need to get a dinghy and build the office.  Mark is currently installing our Magma Grill in the cockpit area.  He ran the hose through the hull into the area where there are two propane tanks, one for the galley oven/store, and one we just purchased for the grill.  We chose to have two, rather than using one tank for both for a variety of reasons.

The rest of our time has been spent studying, taking our sailing class, and practicing knots!  Nothing made much sense  until we were onboard, and now it’s falling into place.  We’ve taken three days of classes and will go on three day sails this weekend.

Oh yes, and cleaning.  It is a daily job to keep the boat clean.  We quickly learned to put things away as soon as we are done with them.  For the first couple of weeks, the boat was very messy as we found places to store everything.  Now, everything is neat and organized, except the forward starboard guest cabin and head which are currently storage areas.  When we need two cabins for guests, I guess those items will be stored elsewhere.  We still have some empty holds in the forward deck area, but haven’t decided what to put there.  They are fairly watertight.  During our three days on the ocean and having a guest aboard (Captain Bill), cleaning was neglected.  Salt covered everything outside.  We spent most of yesterday doing a massive cleaning.  Mark scrubbed and hosed down the decks and I did the cabin area.  Now, it’s back to clean and neat.  Luckily, Daisy doesn’t shed, although there are stray hairs from her which must break off.  On a black floor they do show up.

Of course, we’ve been busy being worried about hurricanes.  Here’s a short video of what Ike ended up being in Ft. Lauderdale after we thought we’d have to evacuate.  A few days later this is what the feeder bands gave us.

(Let the video load completely before you start to play it.)

We don’t have any plans for where we’ll go after we leave here, but we have to be out of Florida by November 6 when our three month sticker is up.  If we stay longer we’ll be paying big taxes to Florida. 

In the meantime, we are having a great time here.  After the class is over this weekend, I’ll feel a little more relaxed.  I have hundreds of books here to read but haven’t read anything that’s not sailing related yet.  I haven’t found a yoga studio or taken a class, but will next week.  I have to see a dentist about a crack in a tooth - probably a crown.  Everything isn’t out of our temporary storage unit yet, but that will have to happen soon.  So, we’ll be busy for awhile and probably won’t really relax until we pull out of Slip F48 and our only “task” for the day will be to sail.

Today it the anniversary of the September 11 attacks and we are grateful to be healthy, safe, and happy here in our new home.