20091208 Boca Raton FL

20091208 Boca Raton FL

We left Ft.  Pierce Fl around 9am after fueling.  Fortunately, the winds had died down, so exiting the face dock was not as exciting as tying up the night before.  With a stiff easterly, evening wind, the stern was hard to control and drifted away from the dock.  On the second try, we were quicker and successful with the help of dock hands.  As luck would have it, we emerged from the marina with no new scuffs and dings and all body parts in touch. 

We motored, headed every southward past many fine homes, but also long stretches of mangroves on either side of the waterway.  The water is unique in these areas.  It appears not brown and muddy as most of the ICW, but also not the greenish color of the inlets, opening into the Atlantic ocean.  These mangrove stretches have black, glistening waters with an abundance of egrets and hawks and more unique waterfowl, than the common pelicans and seagulls.  In some of these areas, the depth sounders and GPS just go crazy.  The GPS, which shows the track of the boat overlaid onto a nautical chart, just jumps left or right, sometimes showing us on an island for 30 seconds or a minute.  It then corrects and puts us where we belong.  Likewise, the depth sounder with jump from showing 12 feet to 3 feet  and then correct itself as well.  We have been diligent to stay in the middle of the channel, but still bump bottom every once in a while with our 5.5 ft draught full keel.

After Jupiter inlet, there were dredging operations in the ICW and we were forced to go out of the channel on the wrong side of the channel marker.  At the end of the day, we survived all challenges and were happy to get anchored in Palm Beach, just south of the Blue Heron Bridge.  Again our trusty Delta Anchor and 3/8” chain held as we swung on the tide changes and wind shifts.  I slept on the floor of the salon on cushions.  Every hour or two, I awoke upon hearing an unusual sound or sensing a wave roll the boat from a new direction.  I had heard that captains grow accustomed to the sounds and feel of their vessels, immediately sensing the unusual.  This is absolutely true.  I recognize minor disturbances easily now; even from a sound sleep.  This morning, Cathy got up and plugged in her cel phone to charge.  The beep of the charger had me on my feet immediately to discover and address the unknown issue. 

Today, as Cathy was moving in the cockpit, while my attention was focused on the next channel marker; she touched the throttle, sending the engine from 1800 rpm to 800 (idle).  A shiver ran through my body immediately, thinking we were in a restricted waterway, crowded with other vessels and now having lost propulsion, we were a hazard to navigation.  Fortunately, a glance at the throttle showed my fear to be unfounded and easily corrected.

From Palm Beach to Boca Raton, we enjoyed mile after mile of large ornate homes with mega yachts out back.  Signs advertized undeveloped lots for $500 K.  Homes of 10,000 to 20,000 square feet sat side by side for miles.  Mega yachts were being cleaned by uniformed staff.  Some Mega yachts had sterns that opened to yield a full 25’ run-about as a tender.  In Palm Beach itself is a yacht club with not only mega yachts, but also a pair of 30 meter racing yachts (America’s Cup Boats)…just for fun.

The trip from Palm Beach to Boca Raton also is a bridge game.   With a mixture of on-demand opening bridges as well as on-the-hour, on-quarter-hour, and on the half-hour opening bridges; we played the hurry up and wait game.  We transited 14 bridges today alone.  Our longest wait was 25 minutes, with most less than 15 minutes.  Often we could adjust speed to arrive around the scheduled openings.  Sometimes we had to do “donuts” or reverse course at idle speed to arrange our arrival at the bridge at the assigned opening time.  A couple of bridges opened a few minutes late, having to allow not only car traffic, but also slower bicycles and even pedestrians to clear the bridge before opening. 

Of special note was the weather for the last two days.  We were able to travel without donning our foul weather coats or bib overalls.  The weather was warm overnight, mid-60’s, with temperatures rising to mid-70’s during the day.  We chased the sun from behind high clouds a few times, but T-shirts and shorts were comfortable.  Most comforting for me was the ability to shed my “Smartwool & polypropylene socks”, allowing the socks and Topsiders to dry.  I suggested to my crew that we celebrate the good weather (and her birthday) by adopting our birthday suits as the uniform for the day.  I was outvoted one-to-one.  My fallback position of shirtless was also vetoed.  Sadly, we sunned only our faces and my chest/back, enjoying the warmth of the sun on our skin.

Today is Cat’s birthday!  We have spent the day as many others before, motoring down the intercoastal waterway, watching wildlife, negotiating navigational markers, avoiding personal watercraft & speedboats & crossing freighters in major ports.  We are tired and hungry, but have found Lighthouse Point Marina with bath house facilities to wash away our worries.    We plan an early dinner at “Caps”, a Boca Raton fixture since the 1920’s.  The parking for Caps is located near our slip, with a dock nearby that a little 15 seat, water taxi picks up diners and ferries them to the island for dinner.  The restaurant and bar were established during prohibition, where Cap smuggled liquor from the Bahamas for the locals.  Supposedly, Cap would sink the liquor in the lagoon, then recover it for customers upon request when they ordered a “Ham” at his restaurant.  The bar itself was recycled from a Flagler railroad car and a building created around it. 

Cap’s was GREAT…not cheap, but well worth the special occasion.  We started with a glass of Merlot & Johannesburg Riesling.  We then dined on bacon wrapped scallops appetizers, hearts of palm salad (i.e. swamp salad), crab-cakes with mashed sweet potatoes and grilled veggies.  Freshly made Key Lime Pie, coffee & tea completed our feast.  We shared all the wonderfully prepared and presented dishes, then went away full.

Tomorrow, we travel on to Ft. Lauderdale to prepare for our crossing to the Bahamas.  We are behind our initial schedule, but have enjoyed our trip.  We have edited our plans to avoid the northern Bahamas islands of Grand Bahama and the Abacos.  We hope to avoid some of the cold weather encountered early in our voyage.  We now plan to go directly from Ft. Lauderdale to Chub Cay to clear customs.  Then on south to Thunderball Grotto in the Exumas.

Cat & Jim