Start:  Lake Sylvia 26.06.230 N, 80:06.350 W

Finish: Lake Worth 26°45.498'N, 080°02.636'W

0710 Underway

1340 Anchor down at Lake Worth, Palm Beach

Total Time:  6 hour 30 minutes

Total Distance:  45.3 nm

We very happily left Ft. Lauderdale, having stayed much longer than we planned, or wanted to stay.  Memorial Day was actually calmer than Sunday.  The boats in Lake Sylvia were filled with families and children, so no loud music occurred near us.  At times we had fast boats pulling kids on blow up tubes, in between the anchored boats but they didn’t last long.  Late in the afternoon, as the sky filled with dark clouds, three small boats pulled in filled with immature adults.  First, of course they chose to anchor right next to us, with plenty of areas in the lake empty.  Next they played loud, obnoxious music.  Eventually, the rain came and they were forced to leave.  On Tuesday, we thought the craziness of the Memorial Day Weekend was done, but we were wrong.  There were 11 sailboats anchored, waiting to leave as we were, when late in the day a speedboat with four young guys in it entered the lake and made a couple of circles around the perimeter at full speed, laughing at how all the boats were rocking.  If the water police had been there, they would have been ticketed.

Wednesday afternoon, a bright orange catamaran entered the lake and anchored between us and and a monohull.  Normally in such a roomy anchorage sailors tend to give each other plenty of room.  He didn’t.  As the current changed and the wind blew, we came very close to them, so we didn’t have a very restful night. Almost all sailboats are white and at first I wondered why this one was painted a bright orange color.  Now I know.  Danger!  Avoid me!  Construction zone (after I hit you)!  Notice the sails, sunshades,and chairs in the cockpit are all the same exact shade of orange.  Even the dinghy was orange.  I can’t imagine where they even found fabric this color for the sailbag.

We left at 7:10 and easily made the 7:30 17th St. Causeway opening.  It was a comfortable trip, no rain but also very little wind.  Still, with the help of one engine at a time, we made 8 kts most of the way.  We are still getting accustomed to our newfound power and the difference it makes in the time it takes us to get to our next destination.

We anchored by Peanut Island in Lake Worth, but found it to be very rough.  We were near a channel (shown in the photo), and even though it was supposed to be no wake, boats raced through quite often rocking us and the other nearby boats.  Also, the wind was stong and from the south.  There was little protection, so we were straining at the anchor the entire night. Also, there was a train track nearby which was very noisy and periodically we heard a sound like an air horn going off. Across the lake is a port for very large tankers and other commercial vessels. It’s a very large anchorage, with nice houses to look at, but we won’t stay there again. There is another anchorage at North Lake Worth, which has better access to grocery stores, etc. and is much more protected from wind and current.  Daisy did get to walk on Peanut Island, which is a very nice little area.

Tomorrow we’ll leave for Stuart on the ICW, our first trip using this waterway.  Today was our last time on the ocean until next November when we go south again.