Thursday, February 15. As we re-entered Biscayne Bay from the channel leading out of lovely Kings Bay, we were struck by the morning’s serenity. The bay was smooth as glass, and the birds on the channel markers were our only company. Not another boat in sight. In the distance we could see the few remaining Stiltsville structures that we’ve read about in Carl Hiaason’s books, then we continued north across the bay towards the huge, busy Port of Miami. It’s hard to describe what it’s like to see the cluster of skyscrapers making up a large city like Miami from the water. Do people actually live and work and have families there? Of course, they do, but from the distance across the water, it’s just a clump of tall boxes of different heights and colors all crammed together. Because of all the bridges and commercial traffic in this congested area of the Intercoastal Waterway, we decided to take the “outside” route. (Translate: Bob and I cruising all day long on our little 34-foot boat out in the big Atlantic Ocean.) Actually, the run was mostly uneventful, and this was a much faster way to cover 90-plus miles than if we had tried the ICW. For a while we traveled 2–3 miles offshore, where the water depth was well over 100 feet. We were now heading due north, past miles of beach after beach, all lined chock-to-block with tall condos. It was impossible to tell where one famous beach ended and the next began. We had some company: a few sportsfishermen, an occasional cruiser, trawler, or sailboat were also out on this coolish, misty day. As we got further north, we began to feel the effects of a cold front, and the wind and rollers picked up a bit. We moved closer in to shore, where we were more comfortable.
Then . . . just as we spied the Lake Worth Inlet, which would lead to our resting spot for the next few days, we also spotted some BIG boats, also planning to enter the same cut. It seemed as if every boat on the ocean wanted to converge right there on the same path that Second Wind needed to take. We made it just fine, thanks to a tip given to us by Brian and Denny yesterday. We rushed through the Inlet and immediately got out of the way as we watched the large, fast ferry boat from the Bahamas speed across our wake. Whew! We were exhausted when we finally arrived at Old Port Cove Marina in North Palm Beach on Lake Worth, glad to be off the ocean. For some reason, my brain had turned to a mushroom, and while docking, I fumbled my lines and fenders as if I’d never been on a boat before. (Of course, Bob was speaking in tongues when he tried to tell me what he wanted me to do – I think it must have been his fault.) But we were safe and secure on Second Wind, happy to begin a quiet evening after what had become a long, intense day.
# posted by Second Wind @ 12:20 AM
