Thursday, February 6, 2020

Getting Our Land Legs Back

West Palm Beach to Pompano Beach  |  5 Hours   26 Miles 

The wind arrived a little earlier than anticipated and whistled through the rigging as we pulled the anchor up at 6:40. Last night we had gone over the particulars for each of the 12 bridges we would encounter today. With knowledge of speed and distance and a little help from some friendly bridge tenders, we were checking off our list and making great time. Just before 9:00 we entered Delray Beach through the George Bush Bridge. (we Googled it and it was named for H.W. who used to vacation in Delray in the 80s and 90s) Barry's uncle and aunt as well as two cousins have houses here, but all are currently back in New York. I don't understand as there was a 40 degree temperature difference between here and there. This is my kind of weather. While talking about family reunions, we passed a newer, larger, and spiffier Selene. Its always fun to see sister ships along the way. As we proceeded along the Waterway, we spent our time gazing along the banks searching for points of interest. The poolside Neptune definitely qualified as interesting.


As we cruised through Boca Raton our eyes widened at all the magnificent houses. We were window shopping and saw several that "would do." A quick check of Zillow disclosed prices up to $12 million. Large windows provided us a great boat selfie and reminded us we have all we need and are fortunate to have the opportunity to live aboard. Back to more interesting poolside art where no comments were made about the giant blue gorilla or the shiny silver cat on the prowl.


The Hillsboro Inlet Lighthouse signaled our final approach. I readied our docklines and fenders as we passed through the open NE 14th Street Bridge, our final of the day. We spotted the sign we were looking for -- $1.99 a gallon for diesel -- and pulled alongside the Sands Harbor fuel dock. Five hundred gallons and a pumpout later, we maneuvered around a megayacht and through the stiff and gusty wind to find our way into our slip. Its been six days since we were last on land and we eagerly stretched our legs. A few hours reading in the sun were followed by a nice dinner at the marina restaurant -- scallops for Barry and mahi-mahi for me.


Tomorrow we will head to the world's largest West Marine down the road in Fort Lauderdale. At over 50,000 square feet it has what we know we need and I'm sure a few things that we are at this time unaware of. We also plan to head north for a lunchtime visit with Melissa and Jeff from Flip Flop

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