The Game of Bridges

"How many bridges did we have to go under for this part of the trip, Gary?"

"Grrrrrr."

One of the reasons many people avoid the ICW is the number of bridges, be they fixed or swing or bascule or lift.  It can be crazy stressful, as was the leg from Hobe Mountain down to North Palm Beach.  Part of the craziness comes from the bridges, while being opening bridges, they are on a tight schedule.  And the boats, mostly power boats, are coming at you from bow to stern, starboard to port, and vice versa.  Lots of traffic, especially since this was Christmas week.

The hardest part was the waiting; sometimes only 25 minutes, but it meant having to hold your position, relatively, by adjusting for the current, the wake from other boats, and yet still keeping away from land and other boats or marks or crab traps. 

And yet, we made it fine, though Gary crashed hard that night.  Our anchorage was a fairly crowded one, but we had plenty of room if the winds picked up.  Planning to stay only a few days because the winds were supposed to get worse and we wanted to not be where we could potentially drag anchor.

One of our propane tanks had run out, so Gary found a place a little bit inland that could fill it, so we hopped in the dinghy for a ride to shore.  Elliott got us up on a plane real quick, but Gary was attempting to give him directions, we couldn't hear him as he was talking into the air rushing past, so I yelled, "Slow down!!!!!"  I have no desire to be tossed out of a dinghy (even though I wear a life vest) at any time.  Slower speed may not have been optimal, but we could communicate better and I was much less white-knuckled and nervous.  Stupid boys!

Chillin' Dog

We cruised slowly down a canal and tied up and locked the dinghy right behind a car wash.  We used their trash facilities to dump ours, and walked, with propane tank in hand, about 1/2 mile to the facility.  Afterwards, I checked out a chi-chi consignment store; no thanks, too pricey for me.

Then we had lunch at a Mexican restaurant next door to the chi-chi shop.

Creepy!

Since we were passing by it, we motored up to and pulled the dinghy up on shore of Munyon Island, within a stone's throw from our anchorage.  Munyon Island is essentially deserted except for adventurers.  There is boat docking usually, but signs posted otherwise this day.  We got on the boardwalk and noticed animal dung every few feet. We wondered what kind of animal would purposely step outside their normal habitat to poop on the places humans walk; hmmm, maybe they're getting us back for doing the same to them.

This covered a good portion of the boardwalk;
not exactly welcoming!

Anyway, it was kind of a creepy walk, as it seemed neglected there and really wild and existing park structures not well tended.  We did not see much wildlife, but maybe they were alerted to our footfalls on the wooden planks of the boardwalk.  The island used to be one of the largest wading bird rookeries in South Florida.

Then, a man named Rodgers came to stay, a supposed "Robinson Crusoe"-type, who lived in a tent and sold green turtles to survive.  After that, a family came and went, and then a doctor bought the place, and built a Hotel named Hygeia, named after a Greek Goddess of Health.  He also concocted a healing fermented papaya nectar that he sold out of the hotel to help heal the ails of the recuperating wealthy folks who came to stay at the "spa."  The five story, 21-room, 8-bath hotel burned to the ground in 1917 (maybe from an exploding nectar bottle) and the island has been uninhabited since then.

It is now a part of the John D. MacArthur park (which we love and visited last year when we were in the area to pick up our boat).

After another venture into town via another route, we dinghied up to shore and had quite a row about securing the thing.  Interesting how differing viewpoints can make or break your day.  Ugh.  Got groceries and some more supplies from West Marine and headed back to the boat, knowing we'd be moving the next day. 

s/v Paisley

We heard, via the radio, our friends from s/v Paisley coming down the ICW through the bridges, so we hailed them and suggested they stop in our anchorage for the night before continuing on.  They agreed to and while the husband and their daughter stayed back (she was feeling under the weather), Elliott picked up the mom and the two boys and we spent a while noshing in the cockpit while the kids wrestled down below.  They left early the next morning to see someone about a clock. 

The Yacht Calagorm

Thankful to Elliott for "liking" their page on Facebook (Yacht Calagorm--check them out), we also had a short, but sweet, visit with the couple sailing a most interesting catamaran that was anchored nearby.  It is a Thailand-built cat and looks much more authentic than modern day cats.  A British couple, they were very nice and I wish we could have spent more time with them as they would be superb to lift a pint (or two) with, though I'm a little jealous that they're going to Cuba this time around; here's hoping we see them again soon.  

The light on this building looks like people on balconies.