Yesterday we left Sunrise Bay for Lantana Bridge. Plans changed in route and we elected to stay in West Palm Beach last night. We had a bad experience with the Lantana Bridge Master. She decided to close the bridge with us just 30 seconds out. She did this without sounding horns or alerting us on the radio. Elaine was able to quickly turn the boat around to avoid a collision with the bridge, but I was furious. I asked for the bridge master's name and the name of her supervisor neither of which was supplied. Additionally, the bridge master at Port Royal Bridge decided he should give us a hard time and refused to open forcing us to wait for an extra 30 minutes. Word to the wise, these folks can be vindictive and calling them on their mistakes just makes them harder to deal with. It is ashamed that incompetence that could result in real injury and property loss is allowed to continue without any recourse. One day someone will run into Lantana Bridge due to sheer incompetence.
That was the end of our day and sadly today started out just as bad. We were awakened at 02:30 this morning by a nearby sailboat calling out our name. Our boat had moved to within a few feet of their boat due to opposing wind and tide. Both our anchors were still holding, but we were just to close. We tried to reanchor, but we just kept dragging. By 02:45 we decided to give up and just get going. From that point on the day began to improve. Although travelling the ICW at night is not what we would choose to do, it went very well. We made every single bridge on time and today the bridge masters have been extremely courteous. In particular, the Indiantown Road Bridge Master went out of his way to get us through the bridge at 06:00. We're now on our way North and have already passed the St. Lucie inlet. We should arrive around 15:00. Hey Kathy! What did you know that we didn't?
Fair winds & Smooth sailing,
Elaine & Lawrence S/V Elle & I