Thursday, April 3, 2014 The wind never died off last night, so it was a little noisy sleeping with the waves bouncing off the hull. We woke up before the alarm went off at 7:00, so we were able to catch the sunrise.
We did our morning chores and took Auggie to shore. We hauled anchor at 8:40 and were motoring south through Lake Worth. Near Palm Beach we came upon a few anchorages that we had considered for last night. We may get a chance to spend a night at one of them on the way back.
The ICW curves around Peanut Island where they have beach camping sites.
The cruise ship, Celebration, was in port along with the high speed ferry to the Bahamas.
The Lake Worth Inlet is where many large ships depart from.
There are many marinas in this area housing many huge yachts. Here are just a few!
Rybovich Yachts has a home here too. They are known for their sportfishing boats and yacht refitting. Many of them fly the British flag because they register them in other countries to avoid paying U.S. sales tax.
This blue-hulled yacht was either new made to look old or old and nicely redone. Notice the yacht next to it with the front lid open. That is where they keep the smaller boats or jet skis.
This huge yacht passed little ole us as they pulled into a marina just down the way.
We were having good luck with the timing of our bridge openings today and making good time. We didn’t need this bridge to open, but this guy in front of us did.
Lake Worth is 12 miles long and quite wide in most areas. It is lined with marinas, houses, and high rises. We noticed this cool home because of its uniquely manicured hedges.
Surprisingly, we passed Two Georges Restaurant on the water which we ate at last summer when we were camping in this area with the travel trailer.
After leaving Lake Worth, we entered a very narrow stretch of waterway from Boynton Beach, through Delray Beach to Boca Raton. We did have to wait for 2 bridges in succession to open in Delray Beach.
I’m surprised that in such an upscale area like Delray Beach, they didn’t pull this boat out of the water.
This was an interesting boat(bronze color) sitting at the dock in front of this mansion near Boca Raton.
We entered Lake Boca Raton at 12:30 and dropped the hook in the northeast corner.
There were some boats anchored in the lake spending time on the sandbar and swimming. The water had warmed up quite a bit lately (75 degrees) and was crystal clear. I could see 8′ to the bottom. The Boca Raton Resort and Club on Boca Raton Lake is a distinct pink landmark at the inlet.
Bob noticed a pelican sitting on top of the motor of a small fishing boat going by. How weird!
Then later in the day he spotted another boat with a pelican sitting on top of the motor. What are the chances to see 2 pelicans doing that?
I put on my swimsuit and sat on the swim platform just dangling my feet in the water.
This bright yellow water taxi came by with a load of people.
From our vantage point, we could see the brightly-colored sails of the wind surfers at the beach beyond the high rises and then the Goodyear Blimp came by. So cool!
Later in the afternoon, the three of us took a dinghy ride to check out the Boca Raton inlet.
We discovered by going out to the inlet, that this was the exact location where we had come to sit on the beach last summer on our way through the area with the travel trailer.
We dinghied around the lake to get a better view of the “pink hotel”.
From there, we motored over to the boat launch and park where we dropped off some trash and let Auggie walk around. Then we headed back to the boat to make dinner. It was leftover sloppy joes from yesterday and then back to the park for Auggie’s evening walk before sunset. The wind died off a little and the evening cooled down once the sun set. We’ll get another early start tomorrow so we can be in Ft. Lauderdale/New River at slack tide which is 12:30. That makes docking the boat a little easier. We have 5 bridges to get under tomorrow that have timed openings, so hopefully we can get the timing right! Boating can be mentally exhausting–moreso for Bob than for me. As captain you’re constantly watching out for the other boats, obstructions in the water, water depths, and monitoring all the boat’s systems. As navigator, I’m constantly checking the charts, deciding the path to follow, coordinating bridge openings, looking for the next destination, reading the guidebook for special directions about a particular place and being the “go-fer” for whatever the captain needs. We both are mentally tired when we arrive at our destination even though things go well. Then and only then can we relax, have a few adult beverages, and enjoy the surroundings. We wouldn’t trade the experience or mode of transportation for anything. Love it, love it, love it!
