Palm beach Shores is a very upscale area and the marina was loaded 99% with big sport fish boats. We were the only trawler in it.
We left at low slack tide which made it much easier for my friends to pull out of their respective slips and move out into the channel. Since Quest was on the T-dock, our exit was a piece of cake. We rounded the northern end of the sand bar and headed back into the AICW.
A couple hours later we passed the Jupiter lighthouse and ...
Jupiter Inlet to the Atlantic. This section of the trip was directly into the tide and our speed was reduced by 2 1/2 MPH. After we turned back north our speed went back up to about 8 MPH. We still are encountering many slow speed areas due to the manatees.
As we passed through the Jupiter area we were again exposed to nice homes......
And boathouses.
Today we ran 3rd in line behind Lucky One.
We only saw 1 bald eagle today but Skip "claims" he saw 3 total.
Another house for Johanna. This one was for sale on a nice corner lot.
Across the canal from the house above was this cute little tug boat.
At MM 990 we started looking for the St. Lucie River where we will turn to port and go through Hells Gate area (and it was) which has current coming from the river and the ocean plus the water is constantly changing the position of the buoys but skinny water is still there. After about 8 miles we encountered 3 bridges in less than a couple hundred yards, 2 of which need opened. The railroad bridge is open unless a train is coming but the Roosevelt bridge had to be raised.
Our marina, Sunset Bay Marina, is located just east of the bridge. This is probably not only one of the nicest, but also most organized entry we have seen on the trip. They took one boat at a time into the marina and got it secured before the next boat entered.
A nice restaurant is located on site.
The docks are floating which is not the norm for this tidal condition and very nice.
The marina building. The dock master was very thorough and helpful with the amenities and local knowledge.
Nice wide lanes to use to the slips.
We all decided to walk the few blocks into Stuart for dinner. Our first choice was closed today but our second choice, Duffy's Sport Bar turned out to be an excellent choice after all.
Stuart has a claim to fame for being the flower capital of the world. Tomorrow we will head further north toward Ft. Pierce, FL.
Our position is N 27 12.072 W 80 15.535
Are you going to try for Port Canaveral Marina before the Launch?
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