Keeping a Boat Behind the House

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5. Fixed-bridge profile. Every bridge between a dock and the ocean is a gatekeeper. Drawbridges open on schedule; fixed bridges never open at all. What matters is your boat's air draft — its height above the waterline, antennas and arches included — against the lowest fixed clearance on the route, at high tide. A home described as having "no fixed bridges" to the inlet offers an unrestricted run; a home behind a low fixed span quietly caps the size of boat that can ever live there. This single line in a listing description deserves more of a buyer's attention than almost any other. The section below names the bridges on this stretch of coast.

Hillsboro Inlet serves Lighthouse Point, Pompano Beach, and Deerfield Beach. It is a working, natural-feeling inlet — picturesque, framed by its small lighthouse, and known for a channel that rewards local knowledge, particularly when an outgoing tide meets an onshore swell. For the canal neighborhoods around it, the run from a backyard dock to open water is short, which is precisely why this inlet anchors so much of the area's boating life.

Boca Raton Inlet serves Boca Raton's waterfront communities. It is a compact inlet with a drawbridge at its mouth, and it connects the city's Intracoastal estates and canal neighborhoods directly to the Atlantic. Conditions at the mouth can build quickly in an east wind; local boaters plan around tide and weather as a matter of habit.

Port Everglades (Fort Lauderdale) is the deep-water commercial port and the area's most forgiving entrance — a wide, maintained ship channel used by everything from cruise ships to center consoles. For Fort Lauderdale's harbor neighborhoods and the homes along the Intracoastal and canals to the north, it offers the most straightforward ocean access on this coast, in nearly all conditions.

None of the three inlets asks much of a reasonably sized recreational boat in fair weather. The honest differences are character and convenience: how long the idle-speed run takes from your dock, how the inlet behaves on a rough day, and how much local knowledge the channel expects of you.

Every span listed below between Boca Raton and Fort Lauderdale is a drawbridge — there are no fixed vehicular spans across the Intracoastal on this stretch — so the clearance figure is the height available without waiting for an opening, measured at mean high water. A boat whose air draft exceeds the figure simply waits for the scheduled opening; a boat under it passes at will. Clearances checked Oct 24, 2026 against the sources in brackets, and treat opening schedules as changeable — boaters should always confirm with the bridge tender on VHF Channel 9. Where sources conflicted, the higher published figure is shown.

Bridges, north to south:

- Spanish River Blvd (NE 40th St), Boca Raton — drawbridge — 25 ft †

- Palmetto Park Rd, Boca Raton — drawbridge — 20 ft †

- Camino Real (Boca Club), Boca Raton — 9–10 ft [Federal Register/USCG: 10 ft at MHW; USCG guide 9 ft]. Notes: lowest span on this stretch; strong currents.

- Hillsboro Blvd (SR 810), Deerfield Beach — 21 ft [USCG Movable Bridge Guide]. Notes: hazardous currents near the Hillsboro Canal, just north.

- NE 14th St Causeway, Pompano Beach — 15 ft [USCG Movable Bridge Guide]. Scheduled openings.

- Atlantic Blvd (SR 814), Pompano Beach — 15 ft [USCG Movable Bridge Guide]. Scheduled openings.

- Commercial Blvd, Lauderdale-by-the-Sea — 15 ft [USCG Movable Bridge Guide]. Seasonal opening restrictions.

- Oakland Park Blvd (SR 816), Fort Lauderdale — 22 ft [USCG Movable Bridge Guide]. Seasonal opening restrictions.

- Sunrise Blvd (SR 838), Fort Lauderdale — drawbridge — 25 ft †

- Las Olas Blvd, Fort Lauderdale — drawbridge — 31 ft †

- SE 17th St (Brooks Memorial), Fort Lauderdale — 55 ft [USCG / Federal Register rulemaking 33 CFR 117.261: 55 ft at MHW]. Notes: tall gateway span just north of Port Everglades; most recreational boats pass without an opening.

† Bridge work has been done on these spans and published figures differ — confirm the current closed clearance with the bridge tender (VHF Channel 9) before you rely on it.

Why this matters to a buyer: read the table from your dock outward. Every span between home and inlet is part of the property, in effect — and the lowest one sets the ceiling on the boat that can live behind the house without living by a bridge schedule instead.

A private dock is the ideal, not the only workable arrangement. Full-service marinas along this coast offer wet slips, dry-stack storage, fuel, and service yards, and for larger yachts they are often the practical choice regardless of what a home's shoreline allows. Many waterfront owners also split the difference: a lift behind the house for the center console, a marina berth for the big boat. Day docks at waterfront restaurants and public facilities throughout Pompano Beach, Deerfield Beach, and Fort Lauderdale make the by-boat lunch or sunset run easy even for trailer boaters. When we tour waterfront homes together, we can talk honestly about which arrangement your boating actually calls for — the right answer is the one that gets you on the water most often.

If you are in town for the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show — or simply beginning to look at waterfront homes with a boat in mind — start with the water and let the house follow. I work the waterfront from Boca Raton to Fort Lauderdale and speak dockage fluently.

Reed Kellough · Douglas Elliman / Eklund|Gomes Team · (954) 242-0441 · @reedtherealtor

Touring during show week? Start here: Boat Show Week with Reed — see the FLIBS page at reedkellough.com/flibs-boat-show

A Pompano Beach canal home with a brand-new 80′ dock: 2651 NE 22nd Ct — reedkellough.com/2651-ne-22nd-ct

New waterfront construction, buying the dockage now: 2336 SE 13th Ct — reedkellough.com/2336-se-13th-ct

The buyer's companion to this guide: Buying Waterfront During Boat Show Week — reedkellough.com/blog/f/buying-waterfront-during-boat-show-week

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