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Day 64-65. May 25-26. On to Peck Lake, Jupiter, FL and then on to Indiantown/ Okeechobee Waterway. Miles 63.5/ 29.1 Total Miles 1122.1/1142.0

 Day 64

We started early to get ahead of the holiday boat traffic. Weighing anchor at Lake Sylvia in Fort Lauderdale, we traveled on the Intracoastal Waterway past the iconic Pier 66 Tower and Bahia Mar Marina.



 We then turned north and passed the older sections of the city - Las Olas( older homes), Galt Ocean Mile (one mile of condominiums on the beach), and the famous miles of beaches on the Atlantic.  I used to live here in the early 70's and the biggest change I see is the older smaller homes on the water are being replaced with larger versions and a few more condo towers have been built.

As we go further north towards Commercial Blvd, North Fort Lauderdale, and Pompano Beach and its Lighthouse at the cut, there is less reconstruction.


The next town we traveled through was Boca Raton with its Spanish architecture, Camino Real and its  landmark tower.

The sand bar at the cut was just beginning to fill up  with Memorial Day revelers as we went by.

Next were the towns of Delray and Boynton Beach where you could still see some of the older waterfront homes on the Intracoastal.
Bill caught the reflection of our boat in the plate glass windows of the shops as we went by.


Further north, the Intracoastal widens into Lake Worth and we travel past West Palm Beach.


And the famous Lake Worth Avenue with its fancy shops,  the iconic Palm Beach Historic Inn and the old Flagler Hotel which you can see behind the palm trees. 



There were plenty of marinas, old classic boats and boats big and small




We then past the Port of Lake Worth and found two freighters loading large boats on their decks for transport.

Rounding the island at the Lake Worth Inlet, we came upon the flotilla of boats all enjoying their Memorial Day Holiday.  We have never seen so many boats congregated together!!  It was difficult for us to see the Intracoastal channel with so may boats, jet skis and kayaks moving and rafted together.  Was slow going through the plethora of boats!


Our next town is Jupiter and its landmark lighthouse.
There is still a lot of boat traffic as everyone is heading home from their day in the sun!
A few miles up we pulled into Peck Lake to anchor for the night.  There were still some day boaters in the lake when we arrived at 5:00.  We enjoyed watching the kids jump from the tower and and play on the beach.  There was a trail that you could walk to the Atlantic Beach, but we were too tired to go.
 
This is what Bill looks like as we records all the data from our trip today.


Bill looked over the anchorage and noticed that the MV Juggernaut, owned by Gary and Carol was also anchored here.  We surprised them with a phone call asking them to look out their window so they could see us waving at them!!!  Later  all aboard our boat for dessert.  We enjoyed listening to their Abaco adventures  since we last saw them.


Today was a long tedious day that required lots of concentration due to the amount of boats on the water which slowed our progress, plus we had to time our arrival at 7 bridges on the Intracoastal as they had less than 16 feet clearance and had to open for us.  We did okay with timing except for two bridges. - so we waited til the time they were scheduled to open.  Waiting for bridges is not my favorite thing!!!  

Day 65

We enjoyed Peck Lake, part of the Hobe Sound Wildlife Refuge.  Saw lots of birds and turtles.


Woke early to head to Stuart for fuel and water and to avoid the boat rush of Memorial Day.  After a fuel stop, we headed west on the St Lucie River.  Is nice to have little boat traffic today.

We cleared the St Lucie Lock and were raised 10 feet to now enter the dredged channel of the Okeechobee Waterway.  

Much of this section is arrow straight, with a few homes along the shore, but the further we go west the shore becomes all natural.  We continued to travel to Indiantown and pulled into the marina. We found a slip as promised but the electric is not working, so tis warm. About an hour after we settled in and large thunderstorm past by causing us to quickly shut all the windows.  We weren't fast enough so a few things got wet!!!  We were glad to be settled before the storm and not out traveling.



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