We've been living at Fiesta Way for about 10 weeks now. Much of that time has been taken up with getting settled in and having a few minor repairs done to the house. But now I (Evan) am beginning to feel a bit restless and am ready for a new adventure.

On Sunday June 30, we had nothing planned. It poured rained until shortly before 2 PM, but when the rain let up, it was time for some much needed adventure. So, at 2 PM, we set out in our dinghy in a light rain. We dinghied south along the Spectra Villea Waterway at low tide. Turning west, we passed under the Fiesta, Venice, Hendricks and South Gordon bridges. At low tide, there is at least 4' of vertical clearance, but there is insufficient depth under the Fiesta and Venice bridges.The prop hit ground under the Fiesta bridge and broke the sheer pin. We raised the prop as we passed under the Venice bridge to prevent further damage. We did not need to raise the prop under the Hendricks or S. Gordon bridges. After passing under Las Olas Boulevard near Isle of Capri, we proceeded south along the Mola Ave. canal to the New River and then turned west.

The sheer pin held out until we got near the opening of the Himmarshee Canal. Then the prop stopped turning so we had to tie up at a broken dock near the All Saints Episcopal Church. We climbed out over the remaining dock support boards with their protruding nails and walked home in the now unbearable afternoon heat carrying the broken Torqeedo engine. Once home, we quickly swapped out the broken prop and sheer pin. Then we Ubered back to the dinghy. We continued our adventure and dinghied to the Boathouse restaurant at the Riverside Hotel where we tied up and had a late lunch, finishing up about 5 PM.

After lunch, we continued up the New River past the Broward Center for the Performing Arts. After passing Cooley's Landing, we saw the entrance to the Tarpon River on our port side and decided to explore it. The Tarpon River joins the New River on both its east and west ends, creating what appears on the maps to be a 3.9 mile loop. However, I've never heard of anyone boating along this loop. We were very shortly about to discover why.

Upon entering the Tarpon River at its western confluence with the New River, we found that it is more of a narrow canal than a river. At first, there were modest homes canal-side with small boat docks. The canal gradually grew narrower and more overgrown. There were a couple of bridges with 3-4 feet of clearance, just enough for us and our dinghy. Then the canal became even more narrow and more overgrown. Finally, we came to a railroad bridge with about a foot of clearance and a strong current at mid-tide. We tilted the engine up and lay down in the dinghy and were barely able to drag ourselves under the bridge. The engine was scraping the underside of the bridge, and the outer rubber of one of the engine cables was slightly damaged. Emerging on the other side, we were confronted with a fallen tree lying across the canal. We were just able to pull the dinghy over the tree. Fortunately, the many protruding branches did not rip the underside of the dinghy. At this point, the canal water is stagnant, and the canal is very overgrown and narrow. We hoped it would begin to open up as we progressed but No! We then came upon a non-bridge where Andrews Ave. crosses the Tarpon River. The crossing creates a dam. There are probably underwater pipes that allow the water to circulate, but there was nowhere for the dinghy to pass. Turning back (and repeating that passage over the tree and under the railroad bridge) or portage were our only options. If Joliet and Marquette could portage back in1673 when they first explored the Mississippi River, so can we, so we did! There was no good place to drag the dinghy out of the water, but we managed to turn it on its side and drag it through the mangrove branches, fortunately without damaging it. We then had to carry it across the 7 lanes of Andrews Avenue. We were a sight to behold: 2 wet muddy men running across a major thoroughfare carrying an old dinghy. Fortunately, there was not much car traffic.

Having made it to the other side of Andrews Ave, we found a spot to launch the dinghy into the swampy canal. From that point onward, the canal became less overgrown and wider and had nicer houses along its banks. We continued east and north without further boating drama. We eventually reached the eastern confluence of the Tarpon River and New River and crossed to the Mola Ave. canal. We passed under Las Olas Blvd near Isle of Capri, and proceeded north, keeping S. Gordon Isle to starboard, eventually reaching the NE 1st St. bridge. We passed under the bridge and continued north keeping N. Gordon Isle to starboard. We proceeded around the top of N. Gordon Isle and then around the top of Hendricks Isle to reach the Rio Barcelona Canal and then east and south back to the Spectra Villea Waterway. We reached home about 7 PM in a light rain, a bit muddy but with nothing seriously damaged. All in all, a fun, adventurous day!