The Last Commission:

Fort Lauderdale

30 May to 13 June 1978

entering

Well were you disappointed with the two weeks visit to Fort Lauderdale? It is a difficult period to record as there was so much happening, both official and unofficial, and with the ship’s company of 2700 or more people, not everyone’s interests in the visit can be mentioned. In general most of us found it an enjoyable visit, particularly those who managed to find a good grippo. For some it was the start of RA again as a few families flew out while we were there.

As usual there were the official receptions on board and ashore and the influence of the Navy League was apparent at these functions. The big disadvantage of our berth in Port Everglades was that we were as far away as we could have been from the main gate and transportation or lack of it was the main factor to influence people’s activities.

The two tours organised by Detours met with poor response, although the day visit to the Everglades National Park was more popular than the afternoon tour of a Seminole Indian Village. One of the disadvantages of the tours were the after effects of the mosquito bites. The Sick Bay was busy with people looking for something to stop them scratching and itching! By far the best way of seeing the southern part of Florida was by hired car and a number managed visits to Key West, the Gulf of Mexico coast and even Disney World. For many, however, the car was a means of getting away from the Fort Lauderdale area to any of the towns and beaches between West Palm Beach in the north and Miami Beach in the south.

As expected most of us spent some time on the various beaches and the majority turned a  darker shade of brown under the intense heat of the sun’s rays. The beach near the coast guard station was popular with those who did not want to venture far and their thanks must go to the duty boats crews that took them across the Intracoastal Waterway each afternoon.

Fort Lauderdale offered many places of interest besides the beaches and bars during the day. Popular attractions were the Ocean World Porpoise shows, the Jungle Queen and Paddlewheel Queen cruises, round the inland waterways, the Voyager Sightseeing Train tour of the city, and the many parks and open spaces. The night life was “night life”, judging by the vast numbers returning to the ship in the small wee hours of the morning, but in general most survived their run ashore. The hotels, night clubs, discotheques, bars, restaurants, eating houses and other establishments of entertainment catered for everyone’s taste and were well patronised by members of ARK ROYAL.

 On the  sporting scene there was much activity despite limited sporting facilities being offered to the ship. Besides the inter departmental fixtures there were numerous games against local opposition with rugby, soccer, boxing and golf being the main competitive games. Squash, badminton and tennis were available at the local Players Club and sailing at the Fort Lauderdale Yacht Club was an opportunity not to be missed by the keen helmsman. The ship ran a very successful course for the RYA Elementary Day Certificate under the watchful eye of FCPO Allen.

In general the sports-minded upheld the good name of ARK ROYAL and put up creditable performances both on and off the field. The supporters too were out in force especially against the local soccer team. The Fort Lauderdale Strikers. Possibly the presence of former England players Gordon Banks and Ian Callagan and other English League players had something to do with this keen support.

The weather during the visit to Lauderdale was hot and sunny and the few showers that were experienced did not dampen our activities or our spirits.

In order to show our appreciation to the locals for their warmth and hospitality the ship was open to visitors over the weekend ¾ June and 9956 people came on board. They were most impressed by the kindness of those on duty either as guides or on the stands.

On Monday 13^th June, five of the ship’s boats manned by 52 volunteers, left for an expedition up the Intracoastal Inland Waterway. We were to see them again on our arrival at Mayport.

As with all our visits, they must finally come to an end, and unfortunately our stay at Fort Lauderdale was over. During the forenoon on the 13^th, final preparations were completed for our departure from Port Everglades at about 1500 that afternoon

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