21 November 2024
Depart: Boca Raton FL anchorage 11:20
Arrive: Private Dock Pompano Beach FL 4:50
Distance: 5 nm
We started today's trip with one more ride through the Palmetto Park Bridge where we had to drop both the mast and the antennas to pass through without an opening. Yesterday through here we passed by a house where I could see they already had their Christmas tree setup inside their house. Today I saw that they had been busy decorating outdoors as well.
We passed numerous mansions today.
Boats of all shapes and sizes motor through here. As I went to take a picture of a work boat that we passed, I heard one man on board say, "Go ahead! We're photogenic!" I had been waiting until I had a clear shot to get a good picture. After I took the picture we shared thumb's up with each other.
Having faced the challenge of the Palmetto Park bridge yesterday, Clark had the helm today freeing me up to take pictures.
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| Meter board shows ~ 15 feet clearance Adding 4 feet at center puts it at ~19 feet we need ~ 18 with everything folded down |
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| Looking up at bottom of bridge as we passed under |
Next we passed by the anchorage we found too full to use yesterday.
Next, we arrived at the Camino Real bridge. We just missed the 11:40 opening and had to station keep until the 12:00 opening.
Near the bridge we passed by Royal Colonial Apartment oasis vacation rentals where they had a "Flow Rider" and a café for visitors.
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| Flow Rider |
In amongst all the mansions, I spotted an anomaly. The place below certainly did not meet the norm of the surrounding buildings!
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| "Trump 2020" Flags abounded |
We had one more bridge before our next stop - a restaurant where we planned to meet friends for a dock-and-dine lunch.
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| Folded for this one also |
Clark made lunch plans for today to meet his classmate and her partner for dock-and-dine at "The Cove" restaurant. Clark had mentioned that the restaurant was near the bridge, but it still took me by surprise as he said, "We're here!" I did not know the restaurant was located next to the bridge, and I had to scramble to put out lines and fenders so we could come into the dock.
We took less time to get to the dock than expected and had almost an hour to wait before Karen and Rita would appear. A very helpful and friendly dockhand helped us tie up at the dock. Afterwards, I had plenty of time (almost a full hour) for me to explore the area and take pictures.
First, I scoped out the restaurant. I went in and looked over the menu and asked if there would be problems with seating for 1:30. The restaurant had lots of open tables, so it was no issue. They do not take reservations.
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| Main entrance to The Cove |
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| Entrance to the outdoor dining at The Cove |
Having checked out the restaurant, I explored further and found a park located next door.
I found a splash pad not in operation. I walked around not across just in case it changed its status suddenly.
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| Almost heart shaped view |
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| Canopy over playground equipment |
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| Majestic trees |
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| Lots of Palm Trees |
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| Tree-lined path through the park |
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| Walking under the bridge |
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| View across the water of Deerfield Island Park |
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| A bit of a history lesson here |
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| View of the bridge from the park |
At 1:30, as planned, Karen and Rita arrived and we went inside for lunch. A couple of hours later, we were done and ready to leave. We stopped a man we found outside to take our picture before we said our goodbyes.
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| Rita, Karen, Clark, Evelyn in front of the mural |
Karen and Rita watched from the dock as we pulled away and started the final leg of today's trip to our friend Steve's private dock.
As we neared the Hillsboro Inlet, we saw a paddle boarder up ahead. When we passed by him, I noticed that he had a dog on the board. The dog was so big, I thought it was not real until it turned its head to look at me!
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| Man and huge dog on SUP |
Just before 5:00, we arrived at Steve's dock and secured our lines to cleats on Steve's boat to "raft up" for a few days. The amount of time we will stay here is TBD.
Steve suggested we have ribs for dinner which was fine for all of us except Clark who is allergic to pork. He managed to find a chicken dish on Flanigan's menu. The ribs were delish!
22 November 2024
Today we hung out at Steve's house to chat and catch up. He wanted to go to Publix, so we tagged along and picked up a few things for our boat stores. We picked up steak, salad makings, and ice cream to enjoy for dinner tonight.
23 November 2024
Clark and Steve spent part of today looking at charts and chart systems. Steve and I took a quick trip to Aldi's to pick up some things Steve planned to pick up. Clark stayed "home" with Steve's wife Judy while we were gone. Steve did the cooking last night - steak, baked potatoes, and corn on the cob. I made dinner for all tonight - pasta and salad.
After dinner Clark and I watched back-to-back Goldie Hawn movies - first "Overboard" followed by "Foul Play". We went to bed quite late.
24 November 2024
Today Steve said he wanted to take us out on his boat for a ride to show us his boat and to get some water under the hull. I took some pictures on our two-hour ride.
"Blue Moon" is a Fleming 58 and a lovely vessel.
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| Steve on the upper helm of "Blue Moon" |
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| Clark shown on upper helm of "Blue Moon" |
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| Model of the Fleming 58 |
I thought that we would not be going out the Hillsboro Inlet on our trip south. That proved to be false as that was Steve's plan for today. As we waited for the bridge to open at 1:00, I saw a dive boat pass us with a great name.
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| "Lady Go Diver" dive boat |
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| They had a pretty big group onboard |
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| Hillsboro Inlet Lighthouse; Dredging operation; Boats beached between the two. |
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| Hillsboro Inlet Lighthouse |
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| Nearby ... Twin Sea Tow boats wait for the next emergency |
Further out in the inlet, we found a Tow Boat U.S. boat waiting for a call.
After our boat ride, we sat in the backyard at Steve's to enjoy the cool day. While Steve, Judy, and I exchanged stories, Clark sat nearby playing his guitar.
For dinner tonight we ordered pizza from dominoes. Clark and I tried the Philly Cheesesteak Pizza. After dinner Clark and I returned to our boat for an early night.
26 November 2024
As we plan to leave tomorrow, today is our last day enjoying Steve's dock and company. We had a mostly relaxing day with a brief outing to Publix for last minute travel supplies for us. Otherwise, we enjoyed watching boats on the ICW passing by Steve's house as well as the absolutely fabulous weather.
Steve is very generous in many ways. As we sat in his backyard boat watching, a group of 4 men came walking by us towards Steve's dock carrying fishing poles and tackle. They set themselves up for a day of fishing off Steve's dock. These men are all from Brazil and related.
Steve met one of them, Andy, when he needed some work done on his house. Since then, whenever he needs work done, he asks Andy for a recommendation. Today, Andy said that they wanted to do something to repay Steve for his kindness, so Steve handed them a leaf blower and said, "Go at it!" Just that morning, he had told me that job needed to be done desperately.
They have caught large fish here in the past. Today they only seemed to be able to pull in small ones that thrown into a bucket to become bait for larger ones.
Andy appears to have some great engineering skills. He has modified his truck to include a built-in boat lift that allows him to pull up to a boat ramp and deploy his jet ski without the need of a boat trailer. He gave us a demo. Amazing! He has also modified the backseat of this 4-door truck to collapse into a very comfortable looking bed. The truck is army green with and army logo on it. (Sadly, we got no pictures of this amazing creation.)
Steve and I agreed that we each had so many leftovers from dinners this week that we would do our own meals to help create space in our fridges. After dinner Clark carried pumpkin pie and ice cream up to Steve's to have dessert as we said our final goodbyes.
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