Ft. Laud. New River Cruise...

New River Sighting

The Savannah by Intermarine is docked beside the Esplanade Condo East of the Southwest 4th/7th Ave Bridge.

New River Sighting

The Thunderbird I from Fort Lauderdale has been docked at several different locations along the New River in Downtown Lauderdale for the last several months. Does anyone know who made this IMO beautiful "contemporary classic"?

It's a Chris-Craft Roamer.

Black & White Going Up River

I snapped these this morning as Sunseeker 34, Black & White, made her way up the New River with the assistance of two tow boats!

Black & White Going Up River

Last few frames.......

I Need More Propellers

I think it is quite obvious that White Lightening needs more propellers! Four are no where near enough!

Must be a skinned knucle and brusied body party working in that engine room.

That boat is a clusterf--k! It was delivered new with four merlins and was then repowered with four QSC 540 Cummins. Unfortunately the owner never got a chance to run it after the repower...

Wow, I did not make the connection when I found the owner's listing! http://www.boatinfoworld.com/boat/registrations/fort-lauderdale-fl-33301.asp?spg=2 She has been sitting in Apex Marine's yard for many weeks if not several months.

Busy Morning on the New River

Despite the threat of rain after checking radar I decided to take Liloo for her walk along the New River. We lucked out and only caught a few drops. I am glad we went as we saw several "big ones" as we walked down river from Sailboat Bend. First we saw Catalonian Spirit waiting to go through the railroad bridge next to Pirate Republic.

Following Catalonian Spirit down river was Big Zip which is 30 feet longer and was not accompanied by tugs. I have always wondered why some large yachts use tugs and others do not on the same stretch of river?

Maneuverability of the vessel, confidence of the captain, familiarity with the river, penny wise/pound foolish owner. Also, many of these boats are coming up river for repairs which brings us back to maneuverability. Then there are those who just don't want to risk meeting the Jungle Queen or another large vessel coming down river, with their radio off, at Little Florida.

One Anchor or Two On the New River

As I walk along the New River and see boats large and small I always check out the anchor rig of each boat and wonder how they decide on the number of anchors. I saw a 92 foot Riva Duchessa with two anchors and a 106 foot Broward with one anchor on the New River today. Is there a rule of thumb to guide yacht admirers.

Funny you should mention the Jungle Queen! As soon as Big Zip went downstream under the Andrews Ave Bridge I saw the Jungle Queen coming upriver. Apparently the two passed somewhere along this stretch of the New River which is only about 100 feet wide!

I used to know the owner of Victoria Won (sistership to Moonraker). Wonderful lady. She had considered a Broward, but decided against it because she didn't like the way it looked with only 1 anchor.
The need for a 2nd anchor is determined by the size (weight) of the boat and the conditions it's likely to encounter.
If you listen to a VHF when one of these boats are on the river you'll hear a bit of communication going on with the Jungle Queen arranging where to meet.

Here are a few very short video clips that I shot while traveling down the New River a few weeks ago. I recorded these while playing with the camcorder app on my Droid 2 phone. It's quite amazing how well it works. The phone uploads the files directly to my YouTube account.

I'm an old guy. I'm easily amused!

http://www.youtube.com/user/BayportYachtsMd#p/u/8/FbO8r8CN1bU

http://www.youtube.com/user/BayportYachtsMd#p/u/7/vEHcRt3Dunk

Here's my contribution from when Carl and I did the sea trial on the Lazzara 76. Credit goes to Capt Brandon who had to thread the yacht out of a tight slip and up and down the New River with the regular load of traffic.

Few more...

Key Largo looks like a classic, albeit a little unkept

Does anyone know more about her?

Houseboat basis ?

Ferry for sale.... looks like it could be converted to houseboat?

This may be the new HQ for YF. It's a real fixer-upper and has potential. Hey, every seat will have a water view, some possibly underwater.