And all across the waterfront
The music was blaring
We couldn’t stand any more of it!
The east wind helped her fair share
And if a marina had space
Well, you’ll be finding us there!

Can see how close we are in this view from the anchorage looking at GGs who wasn’t the culprit, but music came from a few buildings to the left just out of the picture.

Less than two miles south of us sat Loggerhead Marina Hollywood, one of a dozen Loggerhead Club & Marinas between Daytona Beach and Miami.

Chart view of anchorage (green mark) and marina location (the lower of the two Ms in blue circle)

To dream, perchance the reality of a slip? I called Sunday afternoon and ouch the daily rate calculated to a steep weekly rate and we’d need at least two, but Yippee they had a slip we’d fit into. Further reading of an ActiveCaptain review revealed a comment regarding a favorable monthly rate. And don’t projects always take longer than originally estimated?
By 9:30 Monday Twins was tied in the very wide slip at the bulkhead (land) end of pier 5, blessed air conditioning blasting but not the music! As many of you can attest to, the temps have been just a tad above normal which put us in the low to mid 80s here and plenty humid. Tackling the solar project without heat relief was simply out of the question and I am very certain Russ agreed with me within a couple of days. 🙂
Checking in was an experience because you aren’t simply checking in, you are leasing a slip, blah, blah, blah. We read pages, we signed, we paid a refundable deposit, we questioned our decision, we smiled at the excellent rate; we got through it.
This is how our location is described in the LC&M brochure with my comments in bold:
Situated in a blissful alcove (at one end of a huge gated community ) of luxury homes, towering palms, tropical flowers, relaxing fountains, and warm southern breezes, this location offers 190 slips for vessels up to 120 ft. Whether you decide to relax by the pool (located more than a mile away so you need to relax by the time you arrive), stroll by the canals, or revive at the health club (because it’s near the pool and just walking there is a workout); luxury (new washers and dryers in a locked room- better have your key), comfort (lounge with coffee, TV), security (guard at the security gate one mile away has your info, show your license if you leave and return, and he will call if anyone visits or comes to get you), and upscale amenities (pump out at every slip, occasional complimentary brunch) are all within reach in the heart of coastal, trendy town of Hollywood. (within reach assumes a car- nothing is within walking distance)
Let me backtrack to the Friday before and regale you with “a tale of vehicles, near death, and solar project materials”. Actually with a handful of photos you will get the idea. And now that you know we only remained anchored out over the weekend, your compassion level may not soar very high, but what we did we did for the blog.

First über ride. To pick up van we rented.

We needed a van since Enterprise didn’t have a vehicle big enough; the panels are Kyocera 260 watt and are 65″x39″. We locked our dinghy at the launching ramp floating docks and took an uber ride to the Uhaul place which was part of a smaller, older True Value in a strip mall in Dania Beach, about 8 miles north. Paul was our driver and he happily answered our newbie questions. His car was immaculate and he knew the area. Sorry grumpy, attitude-y taxis, über is way better. Faster, less expensive and much easier to contact. Once you have the app you are golden. Track your driver’s progress, communicate if necessary and no cash changes hands.  Our trip cost $7.  Can you tell we are sold?

On the way to I95 North we came within inches of crashing into a truck who had turned across traffic in front of us, putting the van’s brakes to a real life test. Everyone is in such a mad rush here; makes Connecticut drivers look good.

At eMarine located in southern Ft Lauderdale where we picked up the panels and related components

After a fair amount of time at eMarine (they weren’t quite finished with our order) and a grocery stop we arrived back without incident to the launching ramp’s parking lot. You have to pay to park using one of those aptly named meters that take coins, paper and credit, but generally not without fuss.

The day before we dinghied over to the municipal marina to check with Dockmaster Matt with whom Russ had spoken several times in our effort to find dockage. Alas no room at this inn (never was going to be we finally figured out) but when we came in for fuel we could take a few extra minutes to load on our solar materials. The other option was to ferry the stuff by dinghy but even our desire for an interesting blog post has a limit!

We took the sensible route and went to the fuel dock; didn’t need fuel but got some anyway and a much-needed pump out and water tank fill. Then Russ carried on the project materials which by now are getting heavier and more cumbersome as the day wears on and the temp rises.

Solar project components loaded on board. Careful not to scratch the panels.

Panels stashed out of the way and safe from the weekend forecast of very windy Sat night through Sunday

We re-anchored, dinghied in again to return the van. At the end of the strip mall is Jaxson’s ice cream; a long-standing old-fashioned ice cream place, so why not treat ourselves while waiting for our über ride back to the marina.

I’ll skip the gory, involved details for now (one of us might do a page about the entire project later) but suffice to say the process involved many steps, maneuvering around the stuff, and our limited deck space demanded careful moving about.  Our goal was to get one panel on and tested by Saturday afternoon.

The fabricator made perfect rails to our specs and left extra so Russ could cut to the exact length once we had the fittings on

Canvas off, accepting panels soon. Can see the one of the new rails sorta standing up.

After we attached the aluminum frame to the underside of a panel, the panel was ready to be placed on the new SS rails. This was the most difficult part- working in a cramped space, the boat gently (thankfully) bobbing in the water while we hoist ‘er up from the flybridge over the bare-naked T-top. The new rails are laying down for this.

Secure a line and we’ll hoist ‘er on. Slow and steady now mates!

Voila! Tense moments but we did it without too much difficulty. Safety line off, clamshells on and pull line attached

Now to get the new rails upright. Good thing Russ had this all figured out; vast experience I suppose. The safety line remained attached to the panel until the mounting clamshells were secure. Then we tied another line to the forward of the two new rails. I stood on the flybridge facing the stern holding the new line. Russ pushed up on the panel while I slowly pulled the line toward me to bring the rail upright. Tighten the eye thingys, push the second rail up, panel tightened on and breathe another sigh of relief. Ah.

Russ attached the wires temporarily to the batteries without a fuse to see if the panel worked. Of course it did! The sun was shining and within 20 minutes the batteries went from 12.6 to 12.7; very acceptable with only one panel.
Sunday was too windy to hoist the second panel; we aren’t that crazy, sorry; but we attached the aluminum frame so it was ready to go… once we got to the marina 🙂

Our new home for a month- Loggerhead Marina

Adventures Dec 8- 10th

Did I mention our desire/need to add solar panels (and ALL related equipment) and a watermaker, before heading across the Gulfstream? Russ is a fantastic DIYer and precious few boat projects ever involve outside help. These two additions would be no exception. Right before leaving Vero Beach he ordered a Spectra Watermaker Ventura 200-T (for Tropical) with a three-week lead time. He installed the same one on Ms Ortolan in 2011. Many hours involved in that decision, but mostly the thoughts were, “get it” or “not get it”. Plenty of $$ and while you’d never spend that much paying for all your Bahamian fresh RO water, the convenience it affords is appealing to us in our old (er) age. Plus, we could cruise with less water in our tank and that’s good when your waterline is as low as ours all loaded with living aboard things, plus the added weight of solar and the watermaker itself.

We are on the left. Sitting so much lower in the water than Vign Eau on the right.

The decision process for the Solar Project was the opposite; no question about wanting it, but more hours than I could count got spent on learning how it all works, what brand to buy and who to buy it from. The choices range from inexpensive panels at Home Depot to ultra-pricey marine-grade ones from possibly West Marine. Russ picked brains at the PDQ gathering and checked out a few boats with solar. The most common placement is on the T-top, but if you don’t have a T-top the panels could go atop the davits. We considered the side railings and even places more forward, but quickly discarded them due to looks and wiring difficulty.

T-top before the panels

Finally the long –awaited moment arrived and eMarine Systems in southern Ft Lauderdale was the lucky winner. Our plan was to anchor in Hollywood’s North Lake or with luck get a slip at the municipal marina right there, use Uber to get to the Uhaul place where we’d rent a van to pick up the panels (68”x26”), stainless steel ribs, controllers, wiring and various do-dads required to attach things to each other. The company is mostly mail order or you pick it up; they don’t have a means (yet) to deliver and they don’t usually get involved with the custom stainless work each installation project needs.

However, Russ made a convincing case for our situation and eMarine worked with a fabrication guy who used our drawings and measurements to create perfect SS ribs for the two panels to clamp on to. … but first we needed to get ourselves down toward Ft Liquor- I mean Lauderdale.

Underway from Peck Lake to Boca Raton

Much of the trip from Stuart to Hollywood would be new scenery and a gazillion opening bridges; I’m not kidding. As the bridges became closer together and more attractive, so did the homes that lined both sides of the (often) cement-sided canal-ish waterway.

Looks like a painting

Most bridges we could slip under with the antenna down, but many had too little vertical clearance and opened on a schedule, often on the hour and half-hour.

Not many fit under this one

We resorted to listing the bridges, the distance between each and speed needed to make the next opening. This isn’t as easy as you might think thanks to numerous SLOW SPEED Manatee zone areas, SLOW SPEED Boat Safety zone areas and NO WAKE you might damage lawn zones. 🙂  Yes, enforcement lies in wait.

Try reading these every mile or two; sometimes they are so far off to the side you blink you miss them

Wednesday night found us anchored in Lake Boca Raton- oh and doesn’t that sound special? But like many teeny lakes in these parts it’s just a small anchorage east of the ICW.

turn left before G67

I was eager to experience Ft Lauderdale “from inside” and happy that today wasn’t a weekend.

More boats, yachts, vessels of all shapes and sizes than you can count

Russ pointed out how all the bascule bridges looked clean and shiny underneath

This one looks perfect; what more could you need? The mansion, the yacht……

Viewing stands along the ICW for the HUGE boat parade Dec 12

We enjoy a preview

Uh oh, what is hiding behind the treeline?

Looks like she is headed our way-but no, the bridge will stop her!

Port Everglades inlet laid flat calm and needless to say was busy, busy.  The trip would have been awful if not for the SLOW zones because the wakes just bounce back and forth between the concrete walls, and bounce and bounce. Ugh

The Hollywood Municipal Marina only had one slip available, not quite wide enough for us, so we anchored. We’d be very close to a public launching ramp with room to tie the dinghy so getting ashore was do-able.

Looking at the North Lake anchorage from GG’s

Walked across the bridge to GGs for a delicious dinner and a view that looked west over the ICW and the boats anchored. The wide smoke-stack like clouds made for a gorgeous sunset and boy the thunderstorms that came from offshore at 3am, I never heard thunder crackle and roar quite like it did. Russ reported 34mph wind – after I saw 30 I didn’t want to look again.

Friday would find us in various vehicles, picking up our Solar Project components then finding the best and safest method available to get the stuff on board.   You may notice that this post only covers the “On Solar” part and not even “on” as in installation, but with Christmas approaching the title seemed appropriate. Wishing all a very Merry Christmas and a Joyous New Year!