Everything went smoothly except the one bridge a little south of West Palm--we were about 2 minutes late getting there for the scheduled opening. There was another boat with us. There were no other boats waiting. There was very little traffic on the bridge. The bridge tender called us at xx:01 and says "It's 1 minute after the scheduled opening time and you are not close enough yet, you'll have to wait til the next scheduled opening." That guy must have been on a HUGE power trip. I STILL cannot believe he wouldn't open for us at xx:02. But that was the only asshole of the day. Even the bridges in downtown Ft. Lauderdale were courteous and professional, and at least once, held the bridge a little for us to be able to get through.
We had called ahead about moorings and found out they were charging $30 per day (!!). That's a lot for us homeless cruisers. We had also called the SSCA office and found someone familiar with the Lake Sylvia anchorage. They gave us a few hints on how to get in (hug the east seawall until all the way in--to the end of the pilings--and then proceed cautiously). We almost ran aground going in because we didn't follow directions to the letter, but a homeowner hollered at us and we avoided the one shoal spot. We anchored in about 10' of water and had a nice nite. There's a little raw bar on the south side of the Bahia Mar basin that has a dock and didn't seem to mind that we left our dinghy there for a few hours (we did stop and have a drink).
We had a nice evening with some of Dave's CSY friends, and then brought them out to Soggy Paws to cut a hole in the floor. (Dave's friend Steve had a special saw). Dave is trying to get into a bilge area to reroute some pipes. After a good dinner and a couple of glasses of wine, the lines weren't too straight, but it's not in an area that is visible to most people (unless you have your head under the nav station!).
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