Fort Lauderdale field trip

We are continuing to do our research about possibly living in Fort Lauderdale again one day. Today we were checking out The Port condos, right across from the northern entrance to Port Everglades. 

While there, we were invited to tour The Port Marina located just behind the condo building, and this was the most interesting thing I'd seen in awhile. The two attendants/operators who work there invited us to watch as the totally automatic boat lift system retrieved a boat and lowered it into the water awaiting its owner's arrival.

This warehouse is Category 4 hurricane rated, and that apparently lowers the boat insurance premiums considerably. This is a previously unknown industry for me and gives me a whole new world of things to explore. 

The warehouse is huge and meticulously maintained. 

The attendant electronically requests the lift to retrieve a boat, and that's all that he has to do until the boat is in the water. The lift moves to the boat's location...

...and rises to the correct level automatically. 

The lift moves under the boat...

...and lifts it up, pulling it out of its bay. 

Once it is again in the center section of the warehouse...

...the lift turns 90 degrees to orient the boat correctly for the canal into which it will ultimately be placed. 

Once the boat is correctly positioned...

...the lift is positioned over the canal and the boat lowered into the water. 

This is when human intervention is finally required. The ignition is started and the boat is steered backwards out of the warehouse...

...and docked outside awaiting its owner. 

This time it was my turn to be fascinated by how something works. Just yesterday, we were asked again whether we get bored staying on cruise ships for months at a time. I truly cannot imagine such a thing. There is always something to explore or do or experience. I would still be watching this process at The Port Marina if we hadn't had a bigger boat to board.