Jupiter to Delray Beach, FL |
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We were up early today and anxious to be heading into warmer weather. We were away from the dock about 7:30 to follow a sport fishing boat - I believe a charter with about six men onboard - out of the marina into the waterway. We were just a short distance from the Jupiter Inlet which leads directly into the Atlantic Ocean. As we made our first turn we were surprised at the amount of boat traffic, and also several Manatee. Joe saw several small ones in the clear water. There were sail boats and fishing boats of every size. We came upon our first bridge of the day, a twenty-six foot high bridge which we cleared with no opening needed. Rosa had not counted ahead. This one turned out to be the first of sixteen bridges we would pass through or under today. Once we passed the streams dumping into Jupiter inlet and headed to Lake Worth the water became dark and dirty looking. A drastic change. The homes along the waterway were quite nice. We were in boat traffic almost constantly. This was obviously not a low speed zone and the local boats along the way made little effort to be considerate of their wake. We were sitting at a bridge just before entering Lake Worth lfor an opening when two local boats whizzed by us. The bridge tender saw us being rocked and opened the span a few minutes early. I guess some day these people will buy a slow boat in retirement and it will all come back to them. What goes around comes around. Lake Worth is a large body of water which is quite shallow except for the ICW channel. We kept to the channel and passed through North Palm Beach and were amazed at the high rise condominiums along the way. As we traveled south we came upon West Palm Beach which has a big harbor and commercial shipping. We were in a slow speed zone for quite some time but still had to tolerate those “speed demons”. The homes along the waterway continue to get larger the further south we travel. There are many with for sale signs as well as new ones under constructions. Today was or first experience with multiple bridges. Thus far it has been just a few a day and most were very high so we just cruised under them. As we waited for bridge opening today it gave us extra time to look at our surroundings. We lucked out at some bridges as low tide worked to our advantage and we did not have to request an opening. The top of our mast, were the radar is located, is twenty-three feet and a few inches above the water so any bridge listed less than twenty-five feet is a concern. We arrived at Delray Beach at about 12:30 and upon hailing the marina on the radio we got no answer. At the last minute I made the phone call and a young woman answered and had no knowledge of our having made a reservation for the night. She came into view on the fuel dock and as we talked she pointed the way to a slip we could pull into. Joe backed Surprise into the slip and by one o’clock we turned on the air conditioning to cool the inside down. Doesn’t that sound wonderful? We had our lunch inside and read for a while before contacting our friends who are in Delray Beach. I failed to take a picture of just where our boat was located in this marina so I will try to describe it. Picture a horseshoe shaped building of about ten stories height. The Bottom two floors are the solid concrete enclosure separating the marina from the parking garage. We were in a corner of the enclosure with one side of the boat next to the concrete wall. To our right was a seventy foot vessel which blocked our view of anything to the right. If we looked straight out the front of the boat we saw the Intracoastal Waterway. Not much in the way of scenery at this location and it's expensive. Thus we plan to stay only one night. On the positive the facility has a very nice pool right on the waterway and the personal facilities for transient boaters had just been updated.... Well, sort of. Rosa had to be a little creative with paper towels to make a window curtain in the women’s shower. Frosted glass is okay when it’s there. We had a lovely dinner with our friends Ted and Shelia at an English Style Pub. The restaurant was composed of different parts of building transported from England. The back of the menu was most informative. It is reported Winston Churchill has passed through the doors. After dinner, we walked along the street and got a feel of the local night life. There were far too many restaurants to count. You name it, they had it. Tables were sitting on the side walk three deep with barley room for a single row of sidewalk traffic to pass. The Saturday night crowd was in a party mood. No recession here that was visible. Most of the specialty shops, clothing stores, galleries, and novelty shops were open during the evening. This was an interesting experience for us, one we would not have seen had our friends not taken us there. Thanks Ted and Sheila. Later, we said our good night to our friends and received a warm hug. We hope to see them on the return leg. Back on Surprise we reviewed the next days plan and watched a movie before getting to sleep. |