It is 62 miles due west from West End to Lake Worth Inlet on the Florida Coast. Everyone was on deck for a 7am departure. The parade of boats left the marina before 7am. 5 boats in all, in the first flotilla going to West End. We all took slightly different routes to counteract and take advantage of the Gulf Streams northerly push as each skipper has in mind his own calculations and course. Although we could see each other if not visually, on the radar, Linda of Linda G made a roll call on the VHF radio every hour to make sure everyone was okay. For the first ten miles, the ride was a little rolly from the beam seas. But soon the "lady" calmed down and our ride was fantastic. Judy took over the helm and while I was snoozing, she saw several pods of dolphins. Eight or ten in a pod and many of them followed the boat for a ways. As we approached Fort Worth Inlet the wind picked up a little and the inlet was a little rough. It is Sunday afternoon and just inside of the inlet is Peanut Island. Our path took us around Peanut Island and the art of dodging boats racing here and there. There were hundreds of boats anchored near the island-so many in fact they were anchored in the ICW our intended course. The Sheriff was trying to get them to move out of the way but they just pulled forward a little ways and continued to party. A small fraction of the boats are pictured above. Welcome back to civilization! Silver Foxes inched slowly up the waterway and finally some of the congestion was left in our small wake. We continued on up the waterway about five miles to North Palm Beach marina-a very nice marina with floating docks also reasonably priced. After landing at 3pm we called customs only to be given that standard message --"'your call is important to us---------"over an hour later our 'important' call was answered and we gave them our local Boaters registration number which we obtained in Key West and then we were cleared right through. Thus we avoided appearing in person to clear customs. Next order of business was washing the salt off of the boat. We were eagerly looking forward to dining at the nearby Italian restaurant but it had recently closed so it was stir fry on the boat and early to bed.
Monday, April 21, 2008
April 20 Atlantic Crossing-Ft Worth Inlet North Palm Beach Marina
It is 62 miles due west from West End to Lake Worth Inlet on the Florida Coast. Everyone was on deck for a 7am departure. The parade of boats left the marina before 7am. 5 boats in all, in the first flotilla going to West End. We all took slightly different routes to counteract and take advantage of the Gulf Streams northerly push as each skipper has in mind his own calculations and course. Although we could see each other if not visually, on the radar, Linda of Linda G made a roll call on the VHF radio every hour to make sure everyone was okay. For the first ten miles, the ride was a little rolly from the beam seas. But soon the "lady" calmed down and our ride was fantastic. Judy took over the helm and while I was snoozing, she saw several pods of dolphins. Eight or ten in a pod and many of them followed the boat for a ways. As we approached Fort Worth Inlet the wind picked up a little and the inlet was a little rough. It is Sunday afternoon and just inside of the inlet is Peanut Island. Our path took us around Peanut Island and the art of dodging boats racing here and there. There were hundreds of boats anchored near the island-so many in fact they were anchored in the ICW our intended course. The Sheriff was trying to get them to move out of the way but they just pulled forward a little ways and continued to party. A small fraction of the boats are pictured above. Welcome back to civilization! Silver Foxes inched slowly up the waterway and finally some of the congestion was left in our small wake. We continued on up the waterway about five miles to North Palm Beach marina-a very nice marina with floating docks also reasonably priced. After landing at 3pm we called customs only to be given that standard message --"'your call is important to us---------"over an hour later our 'important' call was answered and we gave them our local Boaters registration number which we obtained in Key West and then we were cleared right through. Thus we avoided appearing in person to clear customs. Next order of business was washing the salt off of the boat. We were eagerly looking forward to dining at the nearby Italian restaurant but it had recently closed so it was stir fry on the boat and early to bed.
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