We're moored in a private marina, two slips away from our friend's, Pete and Dana's 40' SeaRay. Their kitchen balcony looks down on the ICW and their front deck faces their marina (tough life!)
From Melbourne, we continued down the Indian River for well over 100 miles until reaching Lake Worth which sits on both sides of Palm Beach Harbor. The shallow brackish river, is 2-3 miles wide, with a narrow 10' deep ICW channel. Twenty five knot southerly winds gave us a two foot chop as we cruised under sunny skies toward Stuart, FL - our Wednesday night stop. We moored in the six-foot deep Manatee Cut, where four marinas host mainly huge sportfishing boats, Hinckley has a service center and there are many commercial crabbers and fishing boats. Bought fresh shrimp, smoked salmon and dolphin for supper.
Stuart is also the entry point for the cross-Florida Okeechobee Waterway. Due to lack of rain, the depths are too shallow for most boats. Water color has changed to bright green and blue with excellent clarity.
As a warm front passed overnight, the cold weather finally broke. Leaving Pirates Cove Marina in light rain, we again experienced strong southerly winds while traveling south at 15 knots. We're running slower, trying to burn less of the very expensive diesel fuel - $3.89/gallon in Melbourne and $3.39 in Stuart.
Approaching Palm Beach, homes become larger, more beautiful and more expensive. Lake Worth was wild, with three foot waves all the way through both sides of Palm Beach. At cruising speed we rode well, but moved around a bit in the enforced idle zones.
We're finally used to Florida's shallower waters; 5-6 feet under the keel is now normal and is considered good depth by locals. Temperatures are in the mid-eighties. We'll be here in Boca until early next week. We're driving to Miami to visit South Beach and eat at Joe's Stone Crab House. We'll also visit Ft. Lauderdale by boat.
Ebb Tide II underway
