It was a long waterway run with multiple bridges. The homes lining the banks got larger with larger boats out front. South Florida from the water makes me feel very small.
The final bridges were all timed. Those that opened on the hour and half hour were about 3 miles apart. One in the middle opened on the quarters of the hour and was about a mile from the last one. We had a little current with us so we were able to make the bridges on schedule but sometimes we had to wait before a bridge for an opening.
The tenders tell you to “bring your vessel to the bridge.” They also tell you “not to enter the fenders until the bridge has fully opened.” This is a difficult task in a sailboat with current from behind. We do not back up well with our prop walk, and once our bow catches wind, we are going to turn. Sometimes we have to make a circle before a bridge just to get straight again. Luckily, we did not have to do this much today. Most of the bridges opened on time so we could time our journey to get there so we did not have long to wait.
We made it to Lake Worth, passing Cracker Boys Boat Works as we rounded Peanut Island. Then we passed the fuel dock where we dropped our gas cap in the water last year. We had a hard time finding an anchor space as there were many boats anchored near the inlet. We finally found an area further down the channel that was not crowded. The wind that was predicted to die down was still howling.
We went to bed early after listening and reading multiple weather reports. We would like to go outside tomorrow but are worried about the sea state with the east wind. We looked at bridge schedules as well just in case. It will be a game time decision.
