It's Christmas in North Palm Beach!

Overnight at Peck Lake was probably the best night we have spent on anchor so far.  What made it so great?  For starters, the temperature was a perfect 72 deg, and there was a nice breeze blowing off the Atlantic Ocean.  We were behind Jupiter Island, so the wind speed was just right for opening all the windows and hatches on Viridian.  There were no bugs since we were offshore far enough, and there was a gentle swinging back and forth as Viridian strained on the anchor rode.  The moon was one night from being full and there were fluffy clouds dotting the night sky.  As the boat slowly swung back and forth, a cool breeze would enter from one side of the berth then the next.  The curtains hanging loose over the windows blew out and directed a fresh sea breeze towards the sleeping crew.  Moonlight would slowly sweep across the berth and the masthead light of a neighboring sailboat floated across the star-filled night sky.  Constellations could be recognized through the open hatchway as the waves crashing on the far side of Jupiter Island reminded us that we were close to the ocean.  The cool cotton sheets with just a little weight from the blanket were just enough to sink the tired crew into the soft mattress for a perfect night's sleep.

The sun climbed high enough in the morning sky by the time we pulled up anchor and headed south that we were not staring directly into it on our way to Worth Lake Lagoon.  We had about 6 drawbridges to pass through on our passage and all required a lift for us to get under.  Viridian moved slowly because of all the bridges and all of the manatee, caution areas.  We have not actually seen the elusive manatee but there must be a ton of them with all the warning signs posted along the way.  A sailboat named Illusion was headed to the same place we were, so we cruised together at 7.5 mph so we could pass under the drawbridges together.

Today we left Peck Lake heading down the Indian River past the Hobby National Wildlife Refuge, Jonathan Dickinson State Park, Jupiter Hills Golf Course, Blowing Rocks Preserve, Jupiter Inlet Colony and into North Palm Beach, FL.  We left the AICW and turned north into Worth Lake Lagoon and dropped our hook with about 75 other boats.  We went as far north as we could so we could be close to the inlet where we could take Jazzy over to a bridge, hike out to the road and walk to West Marine Super Store and Publix for a few supplies.  We took our backpacks and got as much stuff as we could carry, headed back to Jazzy, (she was still there) and motored back to Viridian.


The lady at West Marine told us there would be a Christmas Boat Light Show on the AICW at dark, so we loaded back into Jazzy and putted down to the parade of lights.

That's the news and here's the views:

We are here

Today's Passage heading south

Bird's Eye

Almost full moon at Peck Lake anchorage

Sunrise at Peck Lake

Back to the coconut

Handy-dandy tool for remembering where the channel markers should be

More mansions along the way

Looked better in person

One more

Going south in the AICW

Christmas Lighthouse

Entering our anchorage at Worth Lake, FL

Jazzy beached under a bridge while we get supplies in town.  We fabricated a cable from 10 ft of 1/4" coated steel cable so we could lock up our dinghy next time we had to do something like this.

Cable for securing Jazzy

Viridian sitting at anchor in Worth Lake, FL

Sunset at North Worth Lake, FL

Here are a few photos of the Christmas Boat Light Parade