I-95 Flyover in Ft. Lauderdale

[night0wl]

Hi All,

I'm buying a house which happens to be on a canal that supposedly has ocean access with only one fixed bridge...that being the I-95 flyover. By the way, this happens to be in Fort Lauderdale in the Lauderdale Isle's neighborhood...one of the few canal communities *WEST* of I-95. The bridge has 55' of clearance, so I was hoping to get advice on 40' boats with 5 foot drafts that have less than a 55' mast height.

I'd use this boat for coastal cruising down to the keys, up the east coast, some ICW...and hopefully the Caribbean once I get a better hand of it. I'm going to own the house and boat for at least 10 years, so I'm willing to get a large boat and learn with it.

That being said, for those that are local to Ft. Lauderdale and know the New River bridge, whats the straight scoop. Is the clearance truly 55' of is that there to scare people? Will a boat typically sit lower than the mast height (is that # just for when its completely empty without people, gear, equipment?) Any/all advice is appreciated!

[LakeEscape]

Believe it !!!!! One of the tricks they do on lower the St. Johns river is to lean the boat over by weighing down the boom. Swing it to port and crawl out on it. It will buy you a couple of feet and the cheers of any onlookers.

You could always go under the bridge and measure with a laser range finder (Stanley FatMax). Then you have your own data, be sure to do it at high tide. That area IS affected by tides. That was my old sailing ground before NC.

LakeEscape
Lake Norman, NC