Lake Worth Inlet
20 January 2010 | Lake Worth Inlet / Port of Palm Beach, FL
by Captain Chris

We are finally on the move! After being treated to dinner at Inlet Harbor Restaurant on Tuesday by fellow sailors, Dave and Debbie Levine, friends from Milwaukee, we departed Inlet Cove about 7:45 AM on Wednesday, Jan 13th, on the high tide. After a final wave goodbye, we headed down the channel to Sea Love Boat Works, where we first saw Troubadour. George helped us tie up and take on a tank full of diesel. We then proceeded out the inlet, hoisted sails, and headed southeast. The winds were light and we made about five knots good (for landlubbers, a knot is about 1.1 land miles per hour). When the winds got really light and the boat speed dropped to about three and a half knots, we motor-sailed for a few hours until the wind picked back up.
We made it around Cape Canaveral without seeing any other ships other than a few shrimpers. Linda was on watch and saw the first cruise ships as we were southbound towards Fort Pierce. The night air got a bit chilly, and we took turns staying in the cockpit, in our fleeces and foul weather gear, watching out for other ships and making sure the autopilot was keeping us on course.
Thursday mid-morning we got trailed by the US Customs & Immigration boat for a while. They finally approached and asked us some info, radioed it in, and apparently were satisfied with the answers as they zoomed off with their quad 225 hp engines. We saw about 50 commercial fishing boats around Fort Pierce; I think that must be where the red snapper ban stops because everyone was out. They stayed out of our way, as they should for a sailboat.
Starting at lunch, we had a decision to make: add some speed to try to make the inlet before dark; come in after dark; or wait until daybreak. We turned on the "diesel wind" and motor-sailed for the afternoon to make it to the Lake Worth inlet right around official sunset. I hailed the Sea Tow boat for a courtesy guide to an anchorage, and it paid off as he turned in where the water was about 20 feet deeper than on the charts. The "Palm Beach" crowd keeps an unofficial channel for their mega-yachts on the eastern side of the lagoon, where the Intracoastal Waterway goes up the western side. We picked a spot in about 10 feet of water and dropped the anchor.
It looked like there would be good weather to go to the Bahamas over the weekend, but we decided to stay here for a few extra days to check over the boat while at anchor, see the area, and visit with my sister Lindy. Days have been sunny and in the mid 70s, with evening temperatures dropping into the 50s. We have taken the dinghy in and out of harbor, hoisted and lowered it on the davits, and tied up alongside so we finally have some procedures for life at anchor. We cook more onboard, and run the generator twice a day to charge the batteries, run the refrigerator, and power the coffee pot/toaster in the morning. The marina in Riviera Beach has a nice Tiki bar and restaurant where we have eaten twice, and availed ourselves of the laundry and shower facilities there.
There is a park called Peanut Island, where Linda met Lindy, and "The Girls of Summer" her friends group, for a tour of the Bounty. This square rigged replica ship was used in the movie "Mutiny on the Bounty" and one of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies. Peanut Island is mostly spoil, or sand that was dredged from the canals. Like landfills, the spoil area is hidden and around the perimeter there is a nice walking path that has been landscaped with native species. We walked the tour and enjoyed seeing the marine life, including a manatee. We've also seen one on a dinghy ride in, and one at the marina, as many sightings as we had all year in Ponce. I guess the manatees don't read the signs very well and aren't always in the manatee areas.
We're planning on stocking up tomorrow, and will take the next west winds to the Bahamas. Reading Lyn Pardey's book about heading across the north Pacific in a 29' boat makes crossing the Gulf Stream sound easy!