Monday 12/4
Monday was cloudy. We left our Vero Beach mooring at 8:00 a.m. We watched a line of squalls move inland from the ocean. We were just on the edge most of the day but they finally caught up with us. It would pour and then the sun would come out. This happened over and over all afternoon. We had a nice chat with SV/Extasea from Deltaville. They called us on the VHF after following us through the bridge at Fort Pierce. They are going to the keys and then up the gulf coast. Of course, it poured just as we reached our anchorage at Hobe Sound at 2:30 p.m.. Carl went out in the rain to drop the anchor. Then the sun came back out. For dinner I got creative with left overs. I had chicken left over from chicken salad that I made for lunch yesterday. I added basil pesto to the chicken and served it over seasoned diced tomatoes, and all over rice with a little mozzarella melted on top. It was pretty tasty. It clouded back up before the sun set. One last look outside before going to sleep revealed the super moon peaking out from behind the clouds.
Tuesday 12/5
The moon was shining in every port hole as we swung on the anchor last night. The skies had cleared and it was a beautiful morning. Just a few clouds hanging around, but no rain. We listened to Chris Parker on the SSB radio this morning. It still sounds like tomorrow will be a good day for crossing. We left the anchorage at Hobe Sound at 8:25 a.m. I enjoyed the tour of houses from here to Palm Beach. I love the Spanish style architecture with the archways, balconies, columns and tile roofs. These "mega houses" have manicured lawns filled with bougainvillea, hibiscus and infiniti pools. There are six bridges along this stretch. They are all close together (one to three miles apart). Two are on demand but the rest are on schedules of every hour, half hour or quarter hour. The Jupiter Federal bridge was unable to open due to maintenance. So we just motored back and forth for about 15 minutes or so. We got an extra look or two, or three at the Jupiter lighthouse and inlet, so I took pictures. Finally we are through all of the bridges and are at our final anchorage before going offshore. Lake Worth is a large anchorage near the inlet and a popular staging spot for vessels going to the Bahamas. It is a busy area just inside the inlet with coast guard vessels, tug boats pushing barges, working dredging barges and mega yachts. We made our way through and found a spot to anchor at 12:22 p.m. It seemed like the longest day ever! We are glad to be anchored. The hatches are open with a wonderful breeze blowing through and we are listening to Frank Sinatra on Sirius after lunch. We will run our jack lines and pack our ditch bag this afternoon.
Someone once said " Cruising plans are written in sand at low tide". Oh how true! Our plans are still to leave Wednesday, but we moved our departure time from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. to wait for slack tide. We are leaving ahead of a cold front and want to take advantage of good weather while we have it. That being said, we may not stop in West End, but continue on to Green Turtle Cay. But remember, "cruising plans are written in sand at low tide."