Day 174, Year 10: The End of an Adventure
Date: Thursday, April 2, 2015
Weather: Mostly Sunny, Winds Light and Variable
Latitude: 26 42.485 N
Longitude: 080 02.717 W
Location: At Anchor in Palm Beach, Florida
After spending 93 days traveling together for a total of 1,684 nautical miles, Sea Turtle and Windbird said their farewells this evening. Tomorrow morning Sea Turtle will head up the Intracoastal, hoping to do part of their traveling on the outside, as they make their way home to Little River. We have had adventure and misadventure, good times and trying times, but we made it!!! This was Sea Turtles first major cruise and tonight they were already talking about what they might do differently next year. So I’d call this venture a success. Congratulations, Lee and Lynda. You are both now officially cruisers and we’ll all be waiting to hear about your trip back to Little River. So keep those logs coming. And remember that the end of one adventure is really just the beginning of another.
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| 150402 Day 174 Florida–We Made It |
The passage from Chub Cay to here was a smooth ride all the way. We had almost no wind, so we had to motor, but the chance for an easy crossing of the Gulf Stream doesn’t come by just every day. So we took advantage of the opportunity. We entered Lake Worth Inlet at about 10 am and were immediately reminded of what it means to be back in the US of A. As we entered, a Coast Guard boat was working on a buoy. Big and small boats were coming and going in the inlet. The view was of cruise ships and a working port. The dredge that was working in the anchorage when we left is still there working away. We entered the Intracoastal and were reminded of how narrow and shallow it can be. We had to slow down and wait for the Flagler Bridge to open. And when we got to the city docks at West Palm Beach, we immediately saw that no boats were at anchor. We didn’t know why, but we headed to the east side of the Intracoastal to an anchorage off Palm Beach. We soon learned that the Palm Beach International Boat Show ended on Monday and that they are still deconstructing. And the water is not crystal clear. In fact, it looks brown. So we have to make some adjustments in our expectations. We are no longer in the islands where time is measured by today, tomorrow, and yesterday—not in days or weeks or months. Nothing there is hurry up. Everything here is hurry up, hurry up. But we’ll adjust. At least we once again have phone and internet service and we are close enough to visit with family again. So we’ll just have to keep ourselves busy dreaming up a new sailing adventure for next winter.
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| 150402 Day 174b Florida, USA–Back to West Palm Beach |
