Season's Greetings from Florida

Ft. Lauderdale, FL
26 6.850 N 80 9.218 W



Carina at anchor in Pelican Harbor, Delray Beach, FL. We spent Thanksgiving here with our friends, Peg and Sky Zawadski. The photo was taken through their screened-in lanai. We also visited with friends and fellow Manta owners, Mattie and Ed Sears while in Delray. Prior to our arrival in Del Ray we spent some time with our good friends and also Manta owners, Rich and Carol Wellman in Satellite Beach, FL It's great to have so many good friends to visit and spend time with. It's one of the reasons we love the cruising lifestyle.



With temps in the low 80's and sunny skies Mark took advantage of the clear water in Boca Lake to inspect the props and hulls. Boca Lake is just off the Intercoastal Waterway in Boca Raton, FL just south of Delray Beach. The water here is clear due to it's proximity to Boca Inlet which provides access to the Atlantic Ocean.

Motoring down the Intercoastal towards Fort Lauderdale we captured Carina's image in the glass windows of a home along the shore.

Snow in Florida? This is the kind that doesn't melt and you don't need to shovel... just put it away after the holidays.

We arrived in Ft. Lauderdale on Dec 2nd. Sarah Evan, our friend and former owner of Manta Catamarans owns this beautiful property on the South Fork of the New River. The peninsula that juts out on her property is dubbed "Little Florida" by locals.



Everyone gets into the holiday spirit. The Jungle Queen makes runs up and down the New River past our docks several times daily with tourists onboard for a scenic cruise along the River.

 

Another view of Carina at Sarah's dock...you would never know that downtown Fort Lauderdale is just a short way down the river.  It's like we are at a deserted tropical paradise....

 

... until one of the many mega-yachts comes by. Notice the 150' + yacht is being towed - fore and aft to negotiate the sharp river bends. There are several mega-yacht marinas upriver from us which cater to these floating palaces. Dozens of boats of this size come & go past our dock every day.  



It's takes some getting used to for us northerners to see Christmas decorations amongst the palm trees and warm temps.



Santa "Jaws".



This scene of carolers was just one of several holiday scenes at one house on the New River. It must have taken months to get everything set up.



The New River flows through downtown Fort Lauderdale. We explored the area by dinghy and on foot.



Looks like this boat is ready for the Winterfest Boat Parade.

 

The Winterfest boat parade in Fort Lauderdale is a huge event in the area. We watched it from a park with our friend Ted Bowen and his girlfriend Diane. Ted is a former Manta Power Cat owner and retired airline pilot who now makes his home in Hollywood, FL. We always enjoy spending time with him.



About a 100 sailboats, powerboats, mega-yachts and even barges participated in the parade that traveled down the New River and then north-bound on the ICW for almost 8 miles. I guess you could call these parade floats.







We want to wish all of our friends and family who follow us on this blog a very wonderful holiday season. We'll be leaving Carina at the dock while we rent a car to drive from FL to CT along with Barnacle & Sinbad to celebrate the holidays with our family.  Fair winds from Kathy & Mark.