Getting To The Gold Coast

SHIP'S LOG:

(Current Location: Lake Worth N26' 50.356/ W080' 03.265

It was a lovely day today. It was supposed to be cloudy and getting cloudier but the clouds haven't shown up yet. Perhaps they won't. You won't hear me complain. It was a nice and easy 28 mile journey though we did do a number of bridges today. I am out of practice sitting in front of a bridge, waiting it to open, and going no where. It takes a little bit of skill so control ABISHAG so she basically sits still. Harder still with a 15-20knot wind blowing right on the nose and all sorts of wakes from powerboats going by at high speed. Around most of the bridges, there are Manatee Speed Zone and evidently you can really get a stiff fine for exceeding the speed limit but there doesn't seem to be anyone around to do the ticketing. Of course, if I could reach the "appropriate speed" I am sure that I would find out different.

It was most difficult around Jupiter Inlet where there are four bascule bridges in five miles and consequently a mad rush to get through them. One opens "On Request"; another tries to but has to deal with a lot of road traffic and so tends to wait for it to thin; the other two are at regular times, one on the hour and half hour, the other at quarter to - and quarter past the hour. What skill I had lost at hold a spot was quickly remastered today.

Jupiter Island is quite a place. Lots of people with lots of money and no taste. All of the houses are over down, like the architect didn't quite know when it was finished and the decorator definitely didn't. They obviously are for wealthy individuals but a number are up for sale . . . a steal at $750,000. One part of Jupiter looks something like Venice with canals and Italian style villas on the water. I believe the area is called ADMIRAL'S COVE. It's border on the ICW is a series of small islands and the breaks between them are chained off. You can only get in by boat at one of the two entrances. It is rather impressive. Most impressive was the Harbor House Restaurant. I don't know what they were cooking but out on the water it smelled wonderful.

I cruised into Lake Worth and found a spot in the free section. Here they don't charge for anchoring and as a result, we are packed in here like sardines. There will be no problem if the wind stays down tonight, otherwise it will be a nervous night worrying about someone breaking loose and taking others with him, or just a little paint rubbing.

I did see something in Jupiter that caught my eye: in a little cove there was a fleet of catboats. I really couldn't believe it. White hulls, wooden masts and spars, barndoor rudders and what looked like painted canvas decks. It was the last type of boat I expected to see down here! However, considering that from Stuart to here the average depth in the ICW was maybe 10 feet, they make a lot of sense. There was also another craft, a powerboat that had to be 100 feet long and was decked out with every toy you can think of. I am sure the interior was something to see but I didn't get to see it. I just got the name " 4 THE HULL OF IT!"