2024 November: Lake Worth FL

 19 November 2024

Depart: Vero Beach Private Dock 7:55

Arrive: Lake Worth FL anchorage 4:55

Distance: 63 nm

Before we could start today's travels, we needed to stop for a pumpout. We wanted to arrive at the marina as early as possible to get moving south. Anna and Don came down to the dock to say goodbye and help us with our lines. The trip to the marina took all of 15 minutes as it is very close to Don's house. Ten minutes later we were bringing in our lines from the marina fuel dock and heading towards Fort Pierce where we planned to go outside at the Fort Pierce inlet. 

I spent the first ten minutes after we left the fuel dock bringing in and stowing fenders, fender boards, the boat hook and all lines. I like to make sure that everything is where it should be immediately after we leave a dock or anchorage to be sure it is readily available for the next event whether that be an emergency on the water or a scheduled landing at the next dock. Once that was done, I could sit back, relax, and enjoy the sights.

Yesterday, I blogged about "people watching". Today it was cloud and boat watching that occupied most of my time.

As we prepared to leave our friends' dock, Clark said, "Look at those reflections in the calm water!" The reflections of the clouds was quite dramatic.

After dealing with my fenders and lines, I grabbed my phone to get some pictures as we traveled towards Fort Pierce. In the distance I could see what looked like three boats anchored. as we got closer, we determined that it was an anchored trimaran. It did not look to be in tip-top shape.

The next boat we saw looked to be in a bad situation. It seems to have misjudged the entrance to the marina. We could see rocks near the boat's bow.

Then, we saw a total wreck on shore.

Our path took us through the Fort Pierce North bridge where we could see a replacement under construction. Based on the heights of the supports there will no longer need to be a bridge tender here when the work is completed.

Next, we passed by a place off to the side where folks had beached their boat to enjoy the beach there.

I saw a small boat coming towards us, and I asked myself, "Do they have enough fenders?!"

Then I noticed their "hood ornament" doggy on guard duty.

We see all sorts of boats on our travels from ones like the above to ones like that shown below.

Next, we turned east and headed out the Fort Pierce inlet.

The waters here were extremely calm and the perfect time for some folks to pull our their motorized surf boards. 

Initially I only saw one person, but then a while later I saw that two folks were out enjoying rides.

One of them was standing on hers and then, after a while, decided to sit on it.

Folks enjoy the water in variety of ways like the man shown below alone, sitting on the rocks, and fishing.

The restaurant, "Manatee Island" shown below claims to be "Best Restaurant on the Water". That's quite a bold claim as there are an awful lot of restaurants "on the water".

Next we passed by "Jetty Park"

and made our way into the ocean alongside the jetty. For a Tuesday, the jetty appeared busy.

Continuing into the ocean, we had a close encounter with the woman boarder (one of those shown in pictures above). She seemed to be clueless that a boat our size, or any boat for that matter, might want to go out the inlet into the ocean. It was clear she had no idea we were approaching as she continued merrily into our path!  Clark blew the standard danger signal of 5 blasts on the horn. To quote Clark, "Technically, it's a motorized vessel."

Close enough to say "hello"

We left her in our wake.

With that excitement behind us, we had  ocean travel ahead of us with hopefully no surprises. Clark set the auto pilot to travel south for the next 5 hours.

Expected view for the next 5 hours -
water, sky, and occasional buildings off to the west

About a half hour later, around 11:00, we came upon something of interest. A small fishing boat was being chased by a helicopter. It went on for quite a while. Then the small boat stopped and sat while the helicopter hovered overhead. After a while, the small boat was off again at speed with the helicopter once again at chase. It looked like a training exercise taking advantage of the nice day and calm seas. It was exciting regardless of its purpose.

We had no more excitement with no more picture-taking opportunities until we reached the Palm Beach area at 4:00.

At the beginning of today's travel, the ocean water was calm, but the further south we went the more the wind picked up and the waves with it. Moving around on the boat was challenging. A trip to the head was an adventure. I was glad when we turned into the inlet to come inland. 

The stabilizer had its job cut out for it as we made the turn westward and the seas hit us abeam. Once we had fully made our turn and progressed into the inlet, things calmed down, and I quickly made a trip to the head!

Pictures of the West Palm / Lake Worth area ...

At the entrance of the inlet

Looking back at the inlet

When we arrived, the sun was low in the sky, and the cloud cover was heavy. I tried to capture the sun peeking through the clouds with rays breaking through on occasion to shine down on the buildings and boats below.

We saw a few big boats as we headed towards the anchorage.

We saw some boats moored in the area that we have seen here on previous visits.

Classic Wooden Boat

Smaller wooden boat in front of golf course

"Merit" (cigarettes) boat

What a life! 

Big boat, Big house, and
a golf course in the backyard!

As soon as we had the anchor down, I grabbed a bucket of water (several actually) to wash the salt off the windows and the railings. I find it very disagreeable to grab a railing and come away with a hand full of salt! After that I sat down to do this blog update, and now dinner will be very late tonight as it is already 7:00, and I haven't cooked a thing yet!