Tortuga Tour Day 45: West Palm Beach
6/03/21
Destination today is Old Port Cove Safe Harbor Marina in West Palm Beach. Three nights of anchoring and we are ready for AC, clean clothes, and a normal shower. We are so spoiled.
Our alarms were set for 5:30am. At 5:00am we were rudely awakened by a passing shower dumping water through the hatch and windows – again! Miriam was knocking on our door at the same time to alert us – good crew member. They too got rained on.
I was more upset about losing the extra half hour of sleep then wiping up water. We did manage to pull the anchor by 6:00am and departed, heading for the ICW through Miami. In spite of the many bridges and slow going, I was impressed. I didn’t remember anything from the one time we passed this way years ago. I had not absorbed the importance of the coastal location to the economic life of this huge city.
The Port of Miami appeared to be a very busy port. We passed docked cargo ships and had to wait for one that was just coming in. Tugboats are used to help dock the large container ships. The large cruise ships were docked and have been since spring of 2020. Florida is headquarters for Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian, and hosts the three major cruise ports in the world: Port Miami, Port Canaveral, and Port Everglades. We have never been on a cruise ship but know lots of folks who have. I pulled up a paper on the impact of COVID on the cruise industry and the economy related to cruising, and it’s huge! It was awesome to see so many ships but when I think of all the trickle-down effect of the past year on jobs, tourism, suppliers, etc., it takes away some of the awe.
Traveling through Miami and on through Fort Lauderdale was sensory overload for me. There were so many tall buildings, large homes/mansions, mega yachts, boats of all sizes, bridges, and canals. I took lots of pictures, but I missed a lot. The canals are water streets and instead of parked cars, there are docked boats.
Perspective when you are on a boat is so different from being in a car. I always feel as though I have traveled to another world. The culture is different as well. There are the working boats such as the tugs, the commercial fishing boats, ferries, Coast Guard, cargo ships, excursion boats, sport fishing boats, speed boats, sail boats, trawlers like ours, houseboats, and so many more. People use boats for work, pleasure, as their home. There is a language for boaters that only boaters know because it is geared to type of boat, use of boat, equipment, conditions.
As we neared Palm Beach, we all kept a lookout for Mara Lago. The Captain told us we would be passing by. I took pictures of anything we thought might be the place, and indeed I did get a picture. There is not much to see, but we confirmed it by checking pictures online. It has quite a history that you can check out online.
We arrived at the marina too late for help getting docked. We already knew our dock assignment and with our new crew in training, we got in with no bumps or mishaps. This was a very nice marina with floating docks and good spacing. It was about 7pm. We were hot, hungry, needing showers and some clean clothes. We checked out the facilities and menu for the restaurant. There were enough choices to satisfy four sets of tastebuds. Fred went in to make reservations and learned they were closing at 7:30pm. Oh No!! I do not want to cook! We decided to eat first and tend to laundry and showers after dinner. I was embarrassed going in, but the place was almost empty. The woman who took care of us was very kind. Our meal was delicious and enough leftovers for lunch tomorrow.
By 11pm we had clean laundry, clean selves, AC, and we were very tired!! All was well on Betty Lou!
Captain’s Comments
One of my favorite times on a boat is before sunrise. This morning, we pulled the anchor and ghosted quietly across the bay toward the Miami skyline in the dark. The early departure was necessary due to the decision to take the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) route instead of the offshore route. The offshore route would have avoided dozens of bridges and slow speed zones but would have entailed more rolling. We had enough rolling yesterday.
Most of the bridges only open on the half-hour, and if you arrive too late—which we did multiple times, you have to wait. We lowered our antennas to allow us to sneak under a few more bridges, but there were still too many we had to wait for an opening—I lost count of how many.
After navigating two-way traffic on the ICW (much of which seemed to be driven by crazy people) and many bridges, you can get lulled into not expecting cross traffic. That happened to me at the Lake Worth inlet where the ICW intersects a major shipping inlet. A ship was being guided into its berth by 3 tugs. Though it was moving slow, it was crossing our path coming from starboard; and it was big—two reasons it had the right of way. We slowed down, waited and enjoyed the show. Also interesting to watch the many boaters who didn’t recognize the danger or respect the rules and proceeded to speed around the ship as it was moving into position. Like driving around a RR crossing gate to beat the oncoming train.
We stayed at a marina owned by the same company (Safe Harbor) that owns our home marina in Port Royal.
It was one of the nicest facilities on the whole trip, but no one on the docks to assist after 1730. I had received instructions over the phone, and two slips to pick from, with corresponding slip numbers. After identifying what we thought was our slip, and successfully turning/backing in with the wind pushing us sideways toward another boat, we saw the number on the slip was not ours! So out we went, turned around again, and backed into a different slip. A few people on their boats looked on, confused (I felt the urge to shout “just practicing,” but resisted). Talking with a dock hand the next morning, he said he had suggested painting the slip numbers so they could be seen from the water, but it hadn’t been done. Sometimes, it’s the little things.
Peace fks
