Boating with Sunset Delight: 2025 April: Depart Pompano Beach Florida

3 April 2025 - Pompano Beach; no boat travel

We agreed as we tied up lines yesterday that we would be staying here for more than one night. The number of nights would be weather dependent.

With the wild ride we had on the ocean yesterday, a few thing fell over and / or shuffled around on the boat. I had forgotten to put the non-skid mat back on my bureau, and the items moved back and forth and made a jumble of themselves. I took time this morning to not only put them back in place but organize my "junk" at the same time. It kept me entertained for longer than I should have allocated to that chore.

Meanwhile, Clark spent time chatting with our hosts - Steve and Judy. Later, he decided that the engine and engine room had cooled sufficiently that he could pull out the impellor from the starboard engine to examine it for damage. With the water flow turned off when we left Marathon, the engine and the exhaust hose had started to smoke.

Consequently, he rubber impellor in the water pump was a likely place for damage and a future problem. Surprisingly, all the fins on the impellor were not only still attached but showed no obvious signs of wear. Once Clark got it out of the pump (not an easy task), he replaced it with a new one.

We settled in to enjoy good company and good weather. The backyard views here are extremely pleasant. The gentle breeze allowed us to sit outside comfortably.

Small pool with ICW in background

Looking north on the ICW from
Steve's waterfront

Path through Steve's back garden

We had a debate about what to do for dinner, and Steve cooking steaks on the grill came out the winner. That decision prompted a trip to the grocery store to buy the steaks, potatoes for baking, and salad makings. While there, Steve and I decided to buy some Cookies & Cream ice cream for dessert as well.

We got a late start on making dinner and an even later time for eating it when I told Steve that I felt no heat coming from the grill. He had run out of propane. Fortunately he had another tank, and we got things heated up again. The meal was well worth the wait. Steve is from Nebraska, and he sure knows how to prepare a great steak!

4 April 2025 - Pompano Beach

Steve convinced Clark that he needed to take the hose that was already sitting out on the dock and wash the salt off. After he rinsed it down and we could see through the windows again, I grabbed a bucket, sponge, and the Barkeeper's Friend and went to work cleaning. I decided to attack the steering wheel on the upper helm and the chrome railings to get off the rust spots that accrue over time.

While I entertained myself polishing chrome, Steve did the "Tom Sawyer" thing and convinced Clark it would be great fun to wax his (Steve's) boat. It was hot work all around with the sun beating down. Mid-afternoon the work stopped and we sat in the cockpit to relax and chat.

During the conversation, Steve asked Clark if he wanted to take a look at the radio in his old car. They quickly disappeared and started taking the radio out of the car for diagnosing the problem with it. With no interest in watching them pull the car apart, I stayed on board our boat and pulled out my art supplies to do some drawing. With Easter on the horizon, I decided that drawing Easter bunnies and eggs was a good use of my time.

We had Chinese the first night here, steak last night, so tonight we opted for Pizza Hut pizza. Given our extreme differences in taste and Clark's sensitivity to pork products, we opted to get two pizzas. We demolished ours, and Steve and Judy had 3/4 of a pizza left when they were done!

5 April 2025 - Pompano Beach - Saturday

Clark checked the weather when we arrived and decided that we could not travel on the ocean either yesterday or today, so we would be here one more night and depart tomorrow morning. Even though the ocean was uninviting, it did not stop the locals from traveling up and down the ICW that passes in front of Steve's house. We were entertained throughout the day watching the tons of boat traffic. Many of our comments to each other related to the scantily clad women on board the boats.

When not observing the boat traffic, we kept busy with various tasks. I brought my art supplies up to the house and drew more bunnies for Easter. Meanwhile, Steve and Clark had brought the car radio into the house and were dissecting it. Eventually, they had parts strewn across the dining room table as they looked for the problem area. After Clark identified the source, Steve ordered a replacement part on eBay that will arrive next week from Las, Vegas. Steve will be on his own the reassemble it all and reinstall it in the car. He can handle it!

Clark suggested I cook tonight, so I made pasta with meatballs and the salad. I told Steve to provide the broccoli since he had bought a massive bag of it when we went shopping the first day here. Afterwards, we dug into the Cookies and Cream ice cream again for dessert.

Since Steve was a fan, we watched the Florida vs. Auburn March Madness basketball game. Later, Clark and I checked the results of the Duke vs. Houston game. Neither team Steve was routing for won!

6 April 2025 - Sunday

Depart: Pompano Beach, FL private dock 11:00

Arrive: West Palm Beach / Lake Worth FL anchorage 3:25

Distance: ~ 38 nm

Clark said we did not have to leave today until 11:00 since we only had to travel around 30 nautical miles. That gave us time to chat with Judy and Steve while we waited for the ocean wave action to settle down from the strong winds over the past two days. Before I knew it, Clark was saying it was 10:45 and time to get the boat going.

This morning I took one last walk around the property and grabbed a couple more pictures.

Air plant centerpiece on outdoor table

Looking over fence at neighbor's pool
(never noticed this "cat" before)

I wanted one last picture at the house before I left and thought I would not get the opportunity to capture it. Fortunately, just before we walked out the door, I got what I wanted.

Invasive lizards are in abundance in Florida. Several times I caught sight of this one (or one of its mates) hanging on the screen enjoying a view of the ICW. Initially, I thought one got trapped in there and shooed him out by opening the screen. This morning after getting the picture, Steve showed me where they have their "door" to enter and exit as they please.

Clark targeted our departure for 11:00. Steve walked down to the boat with us to see us off. Our lines were tied to his boat, so he was needed to set us free. At precisely 11:00 we were pulling away from Steve's dock!

Steve on "Blue Moon"

When we came south in the fall, we noted a lot of house construction going on at that time. New houses continue to be built.

Boats of all sizes as well as SUPs are frequently seen along there especially on a Sunday.

Stand Up Paddle Boards on ICW

Floating take out service

We made it to the Hillsboro Inlet Bridge for the 11:15 opening and were on our way.

Hillsboro Inlet Bridge opening for us

As we exited the inlet, we got more wave action than Clark anticipated.

Hillsboro Inlet Lighthouse

Wild ride out of the inlet

As we got tossed about exiting the inlet, we had a discussion on wave heights. Clark estimated 3 to 4'. I agreed but with the addition of an occasional 5' rogue wave. In addition the seas were "confused" and the period was short. The stabilizers were not always able to do their job!

Making our way out into the ocean, we got a few large splashes where the water came in the window of the upper helm full enclosure. Later, when I managed to make my way down below, I found that Clark had left the hatch open in the pilot house, so we had some water spots on the carpet where water came through. He also left the side windows open in the salon (I did not know / notice that he had opened any of these before we left) though I saw no signs that water had gotten on the salon furniture.

At one point, when the boat tipped over to what felt like a 45 degree angle, all I could think about was what on the boat might be taking a nose dive off a shelf! On the bright side, I had my non-skid mat in place to keep my bureau from reorganizing itself!

When we got out far enough, Clark decided that he could change the angle of travel such that we were not taking the waves so much on the side. He headed for the 3-mile offshore line for multiple reasons. As we got further from shore, the waves calmed down somewhat. We picked up 3 knots of speed from the Gulf Stream (traveling at 11+ knots instead of 8+), and we could legally empty the holding tank in over 500 feet of water.

After emptying the holding tank, we had a few hours to tonight's destination, so we turned on an Audible Book and listened for the duration of the trip until we reached the Lake Worth / Palm Beach inlet when travel got exciting and more interesting again.

We had several jet skis playing in the inlet / entering the inlet (not clear to me) as we made our way in.

Some were going in and some turned around and went back out. I just hoped they would stay out of our way.

"Palm Beach Inlet"

As in Pompano Beach, it appears dredging is underway here.

Dredging by the beach at West Palm

The water settled down nicely as soon as we got inside the jetty. We could see the waves continuing to roll in on the other side of the wall.

I snapped a few pictures of the area. Much of what we see here is the same each time we come through.

Boats, boats, and more boats!

As we entered the anchorage area, we were dealing with 15 knot winds.

Anchorage

Two tourist boats filled with people passed by us as we entered the anchorage. It appeared to be one large group of people that required two vessels to accommodate the group. They cruised together and eventually anchored near each other so the occupants could party and play in the water.