27 November 2021
Depart: Lake Worth anchorage 7:55
Arrive: Pompano Beach Private Dock 12:45
Distance: 36 nm
Conditions: Cold when heading into wind; Hot sun
When we pulled out of the anchorage this morning, we traveled north to go back out the Lake Worth inlet to enter the ocean for today's travel. I asked Clark if he was tired of Florida and was heading back home. The joke flew over his head, and he explained that we were heading back to the inlet. Duh!
On our way, we passed by the Trumpy we saw yesterday. Today we managed to catch its name - "Mariner III".
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| Trumpy - "Mariner III" - Biloxi |
Hiding behind the view of the Trumpy, we caught sight of a cruise ship at dock.
As we traveled out towards the ocean, two dive boats passed by us.
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| "Narcosis" |
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| Diving boat with many colorful tanks on board |
Once again Clark managed to pick a superb day to travel on the ocean. The only "real" waves we saw were made by the wakes of passing boats.
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| Looking back at Lake Worth inlet |
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| Dive flag - diver climbing back into boat as we passed |
I saw something flying in the air I had never seen before and had to do some research to figure out what I was seeing.
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| Kite with helium balloon? |
As I searched on Google for information, I found that "Kite Fishing" has become popular in South Florida. Using the Kites expands a fishing boats ocean coverage. Most often, it seems, the sport is used to fish tuna.
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| This boat has two kites up (one of them is the one in the above picture) plus two lines from the boat.. |
After more than 30 nautical miles on the ocean, we came to the Hillsboro Inlet.
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| Hillsboro Inlet Lighthouse |
The Hillsboro Beach / Pompano Beach Bridge opens every 15 minutes. We arrived with about 10 minutes until the next opening. It was a crazy mess of boats - some coming in, some going out, some work boats, and many at anchor. Very little room existed to maneuver while waiting for the opening.
Small boats that could fit under the very low bridge poured out to head towards the ocean. The current pushed the incoming boats towards the closed bridge. Clark decided to face away from the bridge while we waited to make station keeping easier. As we waited, a big charter boat, "Starlight", entered the inlet to catch the opening.
With boats anchored on one side and work boats on the other, the in-bound boats waiting for the bridge had very little room. A sailboat waiting for the bridge had also turned facing away from the bridge. As the bridge opened, a pocket trawler (small trawler) came out of nowhere heading for the bridge. Suddenly that boater found himself playing chicken with the much larger catamaran sailboat. The pocket trawler quickly threw his boat into reverse to back out of the way of the turning sailboat.
While this was happening, "Starlight" called Clark on the radio and told him to go ahead of the sailboat since he was facing the wrong way. (We had turned to face the bridge by now.) Proper protocol would indicate that the sailboat who was ahead of us in line should go before us. The sailboat turned so quickly that it only made sense to have them go in order and avoid the "Starlight" "cut-the-line" directive.
Another scene I saw after exiting the bridge had potential to be a horror story. With all the chaos and boat traffic, seeing someone sitting with their legs hanging over the bow of their boat made me shudder. Not only is this dangerous, but certainly in New Jersey, this is illegal and will get a boat pulled over in a hurry.
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| So dangerous in these crazy waters of Pompano Beach. |
When we pass by this way, we stop at a fellow boaters private dock and tie up next to his boat. On a Saturday, I wondered if we would find a break in the boat traffic to be able to safely make the turn into our friend's canal. Because of how we dock, we have to back out of the main thoroughfare into the canal. I heard Clark make a security call on the VHF radio to let folks know he would be backing.
Fortunately, we got a break in traffic and had no trouble getting tied up next to our friend's boat. As always when we stop here, we had non-stop talking from the moment we arrived until we finally said goodnight to head back to our boat and bed.
28 November 2021
Depart: Pompano Beach Private Dock 8:50
Arrive: Key Biscayne anchorage 2:00
Distance: 41 nm
Conditions: Sunny, calm seas
Our friend came out to see us off around 8:00 when we said we would be leaving. Clark had questions for our friend and he had things in his garage to show Clark. We finally pulled away from the dock at 8:50, which is a lot earlier than I would have expected when these two guys get together.
Once again, Clark took us out into the ocean. This time to avoid boat traffic and Miami bridges. We made the 9:00 opening of the bridge and headed out to very calm seas.
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| Exiting Hillsboro Beach Bridge |
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| Work boats in front of Hillsboro Inlet Lighthouse |
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| Freighters anchored on the ocean |
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| Container ship "Caribe Navigator" full of containers |
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| Tanker at anchor in the ocean |
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| Several Cruise Ships in Fort Lauderdale |
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| Hazy sky |
On the calm ocean, we saw many small fishing boats - some smaller than others.
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| Kayak fishing on the very calm ocean |
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| Lots of little fishing boats scattered around |
We also saw a couple of boats out with parasails.
Normally when we travel to the Keys via this route, we head towards the Keys via Government Cut. Today, however, Clark had other plans. He decided to go check out Key Biscayne and the No Name Harbor.
We passed by the Cape Florida Lighthouse to find a place to anchor.
In the distance, we could see Miami.
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| Miami, FL |
As we came around Cape Florida, I was amazed at how many boats sat at anchor. The weather and water conditions made it perfect for weekend warriors to be out in plenty. We searched around for a bit and finally dropped anchor in a place that gave us adequate swing room.
Once we got ourselves anchored, Clark went to work getting the dinghy ready to go exploring.
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| Heading towards No Name Harbor |
The harbor may have "No Name" but it sure was packed with boats!
"Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park" is located here.
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| Bordered by mangroves |
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| "The Cleat" - outdoor bar |
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| Rafted up and ready to party! |
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| Sign says ... "State Park Boundary" |
Next, we visited South Basin with big boats and mansions.
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| Big boat in narrow canal |
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| Bridge / walkway in background |
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| Banyan Tree |
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| More boats at anchor |
After we left South Basin, we visited Hurricane Harbour next door where we found bigger houses and bigger boats.
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| 68' Sunreef Yacht "Nomis" |
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| Huge Catamaran |
Then we saw the other side of the "bridge / walkway" we saw at South Basin.
With our one-hour tour of the three harbors complete, we headed back to "Sunset Delight". We encountered a lot of boat traffic from boaters with no consideration related to the size of their wake. We climbed over some pretty tall waves to get back to our "home".
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| Miami in the distance |
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| More anchored boats! |
We were out exploring for just over an hour. Getting the dinghy back loaded on "Sunset Delight" proved to be a bit of a challenge with the wakes / waves. We lift the dinghy up with a crane, and with the waves, it wanted to swing wildly. We had to hang on to it to keep it under control.
Some boats had already departed the anchorage when we got back to "Sunset Delight"; others waited to see the sun set and then headed for home.
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| Lighthouse at sunset |
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| Sailboat just before sun disappeared |
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| Almost down |
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| After sunset |
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