December 6

Lake Worth is today's destination. We anchored in the north end of the Lake in North Palm Beach. On the way, we took this picture of a golf course along the ICW. I'm looking forward to getting in some rounds this winter. Pat and Walt did not come to this anchorage as it was a backtrack for them. They had a good day out on the ocean, with light winds and relatively smooth seas. We had a good day inside, but at Jupiter, with its close together bridges, we encountered some fun. At the first bridge, we were second in line of four sailboats, the first one having gone ahead of us just prior to the bridge. After this bridge, there is a hard turn to starboard. The lead boat went aground because he cut it too close. I easily avoided him as I was already taking it around wide. Then the third boat went aground because he went too wide. The four boat was apparently traveling with the third boat and stayed behind, but it was clear from the radio transmissions that that boat did not know how to proceed. Meanwhile I'm waiting for the next bridge. The bridge tender asked me if I wanted to wait for my buddies. I told him I wasn't traveling with them. He said he would open up for me. The first boat had managed to get off by then and got in line behind me. He followed me the rest of the transit, apparently not wishing to be the one to go aground. The rest of the way was uneventful, but filled with the beautiful manisions of the Jupiter area.

The anchorage has lots of room and we cruised around looking for Eagle's Wings on the chance that they might have beaten us here and had chosen to backtrack. They hadn't done either. We did find Wingspread and anchored near them. Later Chris and Charlie showed up with a dinghy full of provisions for their trip to the Bahamas. Charlie later picked us up in his dinghy and we shared stories and wine with them and Bob, a single hander from Halifax who was headed for the BVI (British Virgin Islands). We talked to the Washers by phone and arranged to sail together on the outside tomorrow. This picture shows one the Canadian boats that came in later behind us. It is also a Hunter 356 like Sabbatical. We took the picture to remind us of how they mounted solar panels over their bimini.