The channel from the Intracoastal Waterway to the city dock is marked by beacons and has a controlling depth of 8 feet (2.4 m). There are numerous private piers. The yacht club wharf is north of the railroad bridge. It is approached on a course parallel to the railroad bridge. Yacht supplies and provisions can be had in the city. Repairs to hulls and machinery of launches can be made at West Palm Beach, at Lone Cabbage Island, 1 mile south of the city, and at Riveria, near Lake Worth Inlet. Storm warnings are displayed from the flagpole on the post office in West Palm Beach. Palm Beach is a fashionable winter resort, on the narrow island between Lake Worth and the sea. It is due east from West Palm Beach, with which it is connected by railroad and highway bridges. At this place there is an ocean pier, built for amusement purposes. The radio poles on the pier are prominent objects. Several other towns and cities are built along the shores of Lake Worth. For more detailed descriptions, see the Inside Route Pilot, New York to Key West. Boca Raton Inlet is a dredged cut through the beach 5 miles north of Hillsboro Inlet Lighthouse. There is a short jetty on the north side of the entrance, but the channel is indefinite and changes with every storm. It is reported to have a depth of about 2 feet (0.6 m) at mean low water. This channel is sometimes used at high water by fishing boats, but should not be attempted by strangers. Hillsboro Inlet is 31 miles south of Lake Worth Inlet. It connects with Hillsboro River and the Intracoastal Waterway. It is of no commercial importance, and in 1935 it was reported to have shoaled to about 212 feet (0.8 m) at low water. It is occasionally used by small local fishing boats, but should not be used by strangers. Hillsboro Inlet Lighthouse, lat. 26°15′32′′ N., long. 80°04′52′′ W., is located close to the beach, on the north side of Hillsboro Inlet. The lighthouse is an octagonal, pyramidal, skeleton tower, lower third white, upper two-thirds black. The light is flashing white every 20 seconds (flash 1 second, eclipse 19 seconds), 136 feet (41 m) above the water, and visible 18 miles. New River Inlet is located 9 miles south of Hillsboro Inlet Lighthouse. It forms the entrance to New River and connects with the Intracoastal Waterway. New River forms the approach to the city of Fort Lauderdale and is important for this reason only. The entrance is marked by short jetties and has shoaled until the channel has almost disappeared. The entrance at Port Everglades is used by practically all craft. There is an important Coast Guard operating base close inside the entrance on the north side of the channel of New River Inlet. Fort Lauderdale is a growing city on the Florida East Coast and Seaboard Air Line Railways. Provisions, gasoline, and fresh water can be obtained here. There is a repair shop for power boats and a marine railway of 100 tons capacity and a draft of 8 feet (2.4 m). Drawbridges cross the river at the town. Yachts usually lie alongside the bulkheads at the town or at the city dock. A charge is made for dockage at the city wharf of one-half cent per foot per day, or forty-five cents per foot per year. Two aviation beacons have been established near Fort Lauderdale. See latest edition of chart 1248 for their positions. There is a controlling depth of 8 feet (2.4 m) from Port Everglades through the Intracoastal Waterway and New River to Fort Lauderdale. New River is said to be deep for a distance of 7 miles above Fort Lauderdale to the South New River Drainage Canal, which joins the canal from the Miami River to Lake Okeechobee. The North New River Drainage Canal enters this river about 1 mile above Fort Lauderdale and runs direct to the lake. About 6 feet (1.8 m) can be carried from Fort Lauderdale through the South New River and Dania Canals to the Intracoastal Waterway about 11⁄2 mile south of Port Everglades; there is a limited overhead clearance of about 10 feet (3.0 m) at high water. PORT EVERGLADES (Chart 1248) This new deep-water port, 20 miles north of Miami, is close to the Florida Atlantic ship lanes and borders on the Intracoastal Waterway. It has been made a customs port of entry. A dredged channel, marked by a lighted range (both lights fixed red), leads directly from the sea to a turning basin and slip on the west side of the port. In July 1935 the controlling depth in the ship channel was 32 feet (9.8 m) from the sea buoy to the east side of the turning basin, and 33 feet (10.0 m) in the turning basin. The ship channel and part of the turning basin were originally dredged to 35 feet (10.7 m) in rock bottom. The United States Engineers have taken over the maintenance of the channel, turning basin, and jetties. Two converging angular stone jetties, 500 feet apart at their outer ends, protect the harbor entrance. They are 6 feet (1.8 m) above mean low water. Two lines of submerged mats of rock for proposed breakwaters extend about 1,500 yards seaward, one line on either side of the channel. The general depth over them is about 10 feet (3.0 m), and they are about 1,200 feet apart at their seaward ends. Pilots.-Vessels requiring a pilot may secure one by previous notification. Pilotage is compulsory for all vessels in foreign trade drawing more than 6 feet of water. Vessels in the domestic trade, coastwise, are not required to take pilots, but such vessels are required to have on board a United States licensed pilot. Pilotage. The rates of pilotage for Port Everglades are based on the draft of the vessel and are as follows, inbound or outbound: Rate A.-For all vessels in foreign trade making 1 to 3 trips or entrances per year. Rate B. For all vessels in foreign trade making 4 to 7 trips or entrances per year. Rate C.-For all vessels in foreign trade making 8 to 12 trips or entrances per year. Rate D.-For all vessels in foreign trade making 12 or more trips or entrances per year. Half pilotage, based on the above schedule, shall apply to all vessels in domestic trade, coastwise, when a United States licensed pilot is aboard. NOTE: The charge for running lines when the pilot or pilot boat is used is as follows: $5 minimum, or $5 for the first hour, plus $3 for each additional hour. Terminal facilities.-Slip No. 1, directly in line with the entrance, affords berthing space for several large vessels. Fuel oil and water are piped to the wharf. Fuel-oil storage capacity is 80,000 barrels. A steel warehouse has been built at the terminal, with railway and highway connections. The slip is 1,200 feet long by 300 feet wide, with steel bulkhead at the end and both sides, with a depth of water of 35 feet (10.7 m). The wharf is equipped with a 45-ton crane. The 32-mile belt line is equipped with facilities for the moving and transferring of cargoes. The turning basin lies adjacent to Slip No. 1, and extends about 1,200 feet eastward of the terminal, with a width of 1,200 feet (for depth see above.) Dockage charges.-Charges for docking of passenger boats, freight boats, and private yachts at Port Everglades are made as follows: Passenger boats: Two cents per foot of wharf occupied per day. Freight boats: One cent per foot of wharf occupied per day (not applicable to boats discharging or loading cargo-wharfage charge given in tariff portfolio applies). Private yachts: Two cents per foot of wharf occupied per day. TERMINAL FACILITIES Vessels 500 tons and over_ Shifting vessels in the harbor in which pilots are not employed but harbormaster is employed: Vessels over 500 tons_ Vessels under 500 tons. 261 $10.00 10.00 5.00 5.00 Supplies.-Fuel oil for bunkering of ships is available in any quantity for shipside delivery. Coal can also be delivered direct to ships at the dock on short notice. An ample supply of water is available and is supplied from the city of Fort Lauderdale mains at the rate of 35 cents per net ton. Other supplies can be secured at short notice from Fort Lauderdale or Miami. Towboats.-Tugs are available on call from Miami. Quarantine.-Vessels subject to examination by the quarantine officer are boarded at sea or at the docks. Communications.-There is regular freight-boat service to northern and Gulf coast ports. There is nearby autobus connection with Fort Lauderdale and Miami. Tides. The mean range of the tide in Port Everglades entrance is about 22 feet (0.8 m). The tidal currents in the entrance are usually less than a knot at strength. Directions for entering.-From the vicinity of Port Everglades Lighted Bell Buoy (Fl. W.) close Port Everglades Entrance Range ahead (both lights F. R.; front daymark, white and black diagonal striped diamond on skeleton tower, rear daymark, white and black diagonal striped circle on skeleton tower) and follow the range on course 269° true (W. 1 S. mag.) direct to the terminal slip. In addition to the range, the channel is marked on either side by several buoys, beacons, and lights. PORT EVERGLADES TO CAPE FLORIDA (Charts 1248 and 583) Between Port Everglades and Cape Florida, 26 miles to the southward, the general trend of the coast line is south. The coast is formed almost entirely by a low sand beach. The large buildings and tanks in Hollywood, Miami Beach, and Miami are particularly conspicuous from seaward. This section of the coast is also fairly bold and the 20-fathom (36 m) curve runs parallel to the beach at a distance of about 2 miles until in the vicinity of Miami entrance, where the curve of the shore becomes south-southwestward and the 20-fathom (36 m) curve lies about 4 miles offshore. Inside of this curve, between Port Everglades and Cape Florida, the shoaling is rapid, and northward of Miami entrance 6 to 8 fathoms (10.9 to 14.6 m) are found in places 11 miles from the beach. Fulford Beach Lighted Buoy 4 (Fl. W.) is moored in 60 feet (18.3 m) 11⁄2 miles off the coast midway between Port Everglades and Miami entrance. In 1927 several ships reported striking submerged objects, probably moving wreckage, when approaching Miami entrance from northward and in the vicinity of the 10-fathom (18.3 m) curve, about 4 miles from the anchorage area. Hollywood is a resort city of importance about 41⁄2 miles south of Port Everglades and about a mile west of the Intracoastal Waterway. The Hollywood Hotel, a very prominent structure, is situated on the ocean beach east of the city. Vessels navigating the Intracoastal Waterway lie at the dock in the lagoon northwest of the hotel or at the small wharf on the east side of the waterway just north of the highway bridge. Gasoline can be obtained here. There are no facilities for repairs of any kind. The wreck of the Steamship Elizabeth, lat. 25°47.8' N., long. 80°06.7′ W., lies in 15 feet (4.6 m) of water, 0.75 mile off Miami Beach. The wreck is marked by Elizabeth Wreck Light (Fl. R.), 26 feet (7.9 m) above the water. Biscayne Bay is a large shallow body of water, commencing in latitude 25°55′ N. and extending in a southerly direction about 33 miles to Card Sound. For the first 10 miles the bay has a width of about 2 miles and is separated from the Straits of Florida by a narrow peninsula and Virginia Key and Key Biscayne. For the remainder of the distance the average width of the bay is nearly 7 miles, and it is separated from Hawk Channel by a number of keys and coral banks, between which there are several narrow and shallow passages. A great part of the bay has depths of 9 and 10 feet (2.7 to 3.0 m), and there are a few places with depths of 13 to 15 feet (3.9 to 4.6 m) but near its head it is very shallow. South of Cape Florida, on Key Biscayne, the bay has little importance. The north end of the bay is the center of an extensive commercial development that has entirely changed the shore line and the channel depths. The city of Miami Beach occupies the peninsula that separates the upper part of Biscayne Bay from the ocean. Miami now covers practically the whole of the west side of the bay north of Key Biscayne. These two cities, together with adjoining cities, form a unit known as Greater Miami. Greater Miami is the most important commercial center of the coast south of Jacksonville. The wintertourist trade accounts for the biggest part of the business of the port. Biscayne Bay is unexcelled as a yachting and small-boat center, and much of the prosperity of the surrounding cities depends on it. Prominent objects. The group of skyscrapers in Miami and the large hotels at Miami and Coral Gables form landmarks visible for miles in all directions. Among those most easily distinguished are the courthouse dome, the Daily News tower, and the Everglades Hotel tower in Miami, the Roney Plaza Hotel tower and an amusement pier on the east water front at Miami Beach, and the Miami Biltmore Hotel southwest of Miami, at Coral Gables. Cape Florida unused lighthouse tower, a white tower on the south point of Key Biscayne, is easily distinguished. An aeronautical light has been established about 7 miles northwest of Miami. Numerous other tanks and towers shown on the charts need no description. Miami River trends westward, through the southern part of the city of Miami to the Everglades. The river has recently been dredged to a controlling depth of 15 feet (4.6 m) from its mouth to the Thirtysixth Street bridge in Miami and is navigable for a draft of 6 feet (1.8 m) in the drainage canal to the Pennsylvania Sugar Mills, about 16 miles from Biscayne Bay. Beyond this point the river is closed |