Turkey Creek, Manatee Pocket, West Palm Beach
Trip Start
Jul 21, 2001
1
37
45
Trip End
Apr 22, 2002
Lake Worth,
Florida,
United States
Wednesday, January 9, 2002
The bridge at Port Mayaca was indeed open when we completed an uneventful crossing of Lake Okeechobee. We continued on to the last set of locks at St. Lucie before stopping for the night. We had a fabulous time with Mike and Joan but it was still a relief to be free of the clutches of the Waterway and its locks and bridges.
A short 15 mile run took us to Manatee Pocket just off the ICW and at the entrance to the Okeechobee Waterway. We are presently anchored waiting for NICOU to join us from their stay at Vero Beach. They have met another couple who are crossing to the Bahamas for the first time also and wish to travel with us. The weather forecast for the rest of the week is not good for a crossing so we will take our time here and at Lake Worth waiting for good weather.
Anyway, this posting will finally bring our log up-to-date once more. We have a special bottle of champagne to celebrate New Years with Dave and Judy aboard NICOU and Margaret and I wish all of you the very best in the New Year.
January 3 - 12
"Lush, plush, elegant, luxurious, rich, opulent, affluent. This aura of wealth seems to ooze from every side." (Intercoastal Waterway, A Cockpit Cruising Handbook).
On our trip north from Manatee Pocket to Lake Worth and North Palm Beach, we passed gorgeous homes and mansions. In addition to homes costing millions, there were large yachts and mini-cruise liners tied up at their own pier. If you have an inferiority complex about the size of your boat, this is not the place for you. Some of these boats were over 100 feet long and we can only guess what they might cost. We were told that Roger Penskes yacht DETROIT EAGLE is 153 feet long and valued at over 40 million. John and Connie Fifer on RIVERDANCE saw this boat at Hilton Head Harbour on their way south and also read the write up as it was featured in one the luxury yacht magazines.
John and Connie are a new couple we just met through Dave and Judy aboard NICOU. They shared a mooring at Vero Beach with NICOU and have been together since. They are relatively new to sailing, having only three years experience, and they wanted to travel with someone who was also crossing to the Bahamas, so our three boats will cross together.
We have anchored at the north end of the anchorage to be close to a dinghy landing and the shopping malls. Some mornings it is almost impossible to land your dinghy as so many boats are here provisioning as they wait to cross over or head further south.
Thankfully the landing is near a huge and quite beautiful supermarket called Publix. I think all of us have made a daily trip to this store and a number of trips to the nearby West Marine store. There are also two Goodwill type stores in the West Marine mall and the ladies have continued to get great bargains. Margaret was able to purchase an excellent wind suit for $2 amongst other items. She bought me a pair of L.L.Bean shorts for a dollar. Can't beat those prices.
We have provisioned and prepared for this crossing as if we were leaving the civilized world for 3 months. In reality, the Bahamas are not that far away, only about 60 miles but we know when we get there that many of the items we have taken for granted these past months will no longer be available or will cost double or triple what they cost here in the States.
We have added a number of containers to supplement our meager water and fuel storage. For 16 years we always felt we had enough storage for sailing the Great Lakes but not for ocean or third world cruising. They say you can tell a true cruising boat by the number of add ons. Every boat going to the Bahamas has a number of containers up top, even the large sailboats. In addition, many boats not only have solar panels but wind generators to produce sufficient electricity for added equipment like refrigeration units.
