Best Wishes for the New Year!

As we started under the Julia Tuttle Causeway Bridge it was impossible to visually judge our mast height relative to the bottom of the bridge, but it was damn close.  We watched as the mast itself sailed just under the crossbeams, but then saw that the VHF antenna, rising another foot above the 55′ mast was bending backward as it met the crossbeam.  Fortunately, due to it flexible construction it bent fully back then whipped back in position as it cleared the crossbeam.  The process repeated several times as we went under the full width of the two bridges.  We emerged with the mast intact, the antenna now only slightly bent backwards from its full upright position.  A quick check of the radio showed that it was still fully functional.  We were able to proceed to our planned anchorage and complete our daily objective.  We were well settled in at last light as we watched the televised conclusion of the NASCAR finale at the nearby Homestead racetrack.  Later that night, as we saw a parade of police escorted vehicles on the nearby causeway, we debated which of the neighboring yachts were supporting drivers, owners and major sponsors.

We had avoided having to back track many miles north to bypass the bridge by going outside at the Fort Lauderdale inlet.  We could then proceed as scheduled the next day outside at the cape of Florida and into the upper keys on our quest to the west.  At 65′ our next bridge at Channel 5 wouldn’t be an issue.

The rest of our trip was relatively uneventful until we arrived at our final port and found the tide was again agin’ us.  It seems that a red tide was responsible for a massive fish kill in Charlotte Harbor, most of which ended up in the Burnt Store Marina area.  The dead fish and their stench eventually dissipated so we can look forward to a clean start in the New Year.   Hope everyone can look forward to a clean start as we enter a new decade – welcome 2020!