Depart: Peck Lake Anchorage 8:45
Arrive: Pompano Beach Private Dock 4:15
Distance: 58 nm
Today's travel covered a variety of sights from the properties of the ultra rich to unimproved land. We left the Peck Lake anchorage and traveled south on the ICW until we got to the Lake Worth Inlet where we made our escape from slow / no wake zones, boat traffic, and bridges to the peace and quiet of calm ocean waters. We traveled 31 nautical miles on the Atlantic Ocean and then came in again at the Hillsboro / Pompano Beach Inlet.
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| Jupiter Island [Golf] Club |
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| Jupiter Island Club "Parking Lot" |
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Jupiter Nature Conservancy
next door to Club |
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| Jupiter Inlet - not recommended / local knowledge required |
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| Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse |
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Example of Mansion in Jupiter
This is one very large house! |
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| Osprey in natural setting |
As we came into the Palm Beach area, boat traffic congestion crept up on us.
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| Donald Ross Bridge - Palm Beach area |
As we approached the PGA Boulevard Bridge, we could not believe the number of sailboats waiting for an opening.
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Sailing Vessels awaiting the next opening
of PGA Blvd Bridge |
We did not need an opening, so we started to weave our way through the waiting vessels. About half-way through the boats blocking our way to the bridge, the bridge opened, and we were caught in the middle of the now-moving parade!
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| Parade of sail boats following us through the bridge |
Later, as we passed through Riviera Beach, I noticed a Publix food store near a bridge we passed under.
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| Provisions - so near and yet so far away! |
We could not tell from the view we got, but it looked like this ship from the Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line might be in for some maintenance.
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| Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line Ship |
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| "Grand Celebration" |
Next door to the "Grand Celebration" we saw another commercial vessel.
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| "Tropic Unity" - Kingstown |
After that, we made our escape into the ocean via the Lake Worth inlet - no more sailing vessels, no more bridges! Yay!
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| Lake Worth / Palm Beach Inlet |
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| Palm Beach Inlet |
After that, we traveled 31 nautical miles for approximately 4 hours to arrive at the Hillsboro / Pompano Beach Inlet. What a relief to be out on the ocean after dealing with bridges and boats!
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| Hillsboro Inlet Lighthouse |
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| Hillsboro Inlet - view from ocean |
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| Hillsboro Inlet - view from inside inlet |
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| Hillsboro Inlet - view from inside inlet |
After entering the inlet, we almost immediately found ourselves facing a bridge with restricted openings.
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| Hillsboro / Pompano Beach Bridge |
Our friend's house and private dock are just around the corner from the bridge, so we were almost done with today's travels.
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| Approximate location of our friend's private dock |
When we arrived at our friend's house, however, Clark had two concerns - 1) the owner was not home and 2) the width of the lagoon looked like it would not support our rafting up to the owner's boat. How would large boats in the lagoon get by us? What to do? What to do?! I told Clark that the owner would not have invited us to raft up if 1) he did not want us and 2) he thought we could not fit.
After calling the owner a couple of times with no answer, Clark was ready to abort and go find an anchorage. Fortunately, the third call was the charm and the owner insisted we should tie up. The big boats in the lagoon almost never leave their docks so it is a non-issue to clog the waterway.
Without any help on the other vessel, rafting / tying up at the dock proved a bit challenging. I managed to get us reasonably secure and then Clark helped me "play" with the lines until we were satisfied with the setup.
When the owner of the dock, Steve, arrived home, he immediately came to say hello, and we spent the next 2+ hours comparing boats. By then it was getting late and we decided to call Papa John's for a pizza to be delivered. An hour later we still had not received our food. We called to check, and through some mix up, they thought we would pick up the pizza. They made us a new one, but instead of delivery, Clark and Steve went to retrieve the pizza. By the time they got back with the food, it was after 9:30, and I was ready to eat the pizza box I was so hungry!
As we said goodnight, Steve asked if we had to leave early in the morning because he had something to show us. We said we were in no rush and agreed to see what he wanted to show us.
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