The ICW Gets One More Shot

On Wednesday morning, a howling south wind and overcast skies confirmed the wisdom of our intention to stay on the Intra-coastal Waterway (ICW) rather than sail down the coast. Pat had recovered sufficiently from her seasickness to get us to 'dinghy' into town to pick up a pizza for dinner the night before and she reported for light duty as we weighed anchor. Even though we had not intended to stop at Ft. Pierce, it had been a profitable layover. A nearby grocery store and West Marine gave us a chance to resupply. In addition, when we awoke on Tuesday morning, we found S/V Fandango with David, Donna and their daughter, Margo, anchored near us. Pat and I had met them in Beaufort, NC several weeks ago and enjoyed catching up on their adventures.

The ICW along this part of the coast presents serious challenges to boats drawing more than 4 feet. It’s narrow and shallow with areas of open water and too few channel markers. We draw 5.5' and had to wait for a rising tide before weighing anchor to avoid grounding. Several places along the way we found ourselves in shallow water even though we were clearly in the channel. The 20+ knot winds didn’t make it any easier. We made good progress, however, passing through highly developed, expensive residential areas, clearing numerous bascule bridges and dodging flotillas of dinghy racers. We moved in and out of rain storms all afternoon and an hour from Jupiter we were slammed by a rain storm that reduced visibility to 100 feet. Without warning, we found ourselves aground in an area that should have had plenty of water! Just before the grounding we had noticed a Sea Tow vessel slowly following us. Now we knew why. He immediately pulled up beside to negotiate a price for pulling us off. After a brief discussion, however, he volunteered that his depth sounder showed 6'. Since he was tied up beside us that meant we were apparently right on the edge of the channel. I worked the boat back and forth, while Sea Tow waited patiently. Finally, we were floating again; saving us a couple of hundred dollars.

Having done its worst, the weather relented. The skies cleared, the sun came out and the wind died as we followed the ICW through a beautiful nature preserve to Admiral’s Cove Marina in Jupiter.

Vicki Pollitt ney Martin, a childhood friend, had arranged for us to stay at Admiral’s Cove where her husband, Bobby, a professional golfer, runs the golfing operation for this members only, gated, ‘celebrity class’ residential resort. Nothing in our experience compares with this luxurious facility. We pulled into our assigned slip around 6:00 pm, greeted by staffmember, Tim, and found ourselves parked between two super mega-yachts. From our deck you could only see sheer hull rising to either side. Our slip was so long you could almost have put another vessel our size behind us! Even though Admiral’s Cove only ranks 4th in the nation among resorts, we managed to have a pretty good time. If they had a cemetery, you would never have to leave this place. The staff was great and went out of their way to make sure we were taken care of. The worst offense you can commit at The Cove, as we habitues like to call it, is to do something for yourself. We learned this the hard way when Pat made arrangements on her own to rent a car. "No! No! No! We take care of that. Let me get the door. Would you like me to cut your steak for you?" After a while I expected someone to hand me a towel as I stepped from the shower ("No, that's okay, I can wash my back myself, thanks")! We had a great time observing the lifestyles of the rich and famous but concluded that while having someone arrange to have your every whim and need met might have some advantages, it would definitively take some getting used to. Staying there was a welcome break and we really enjoyed meeting Bobby and catching up with Vicki. It had been over 30 years since we had met. Our conversation started with, "So, after high school...."

Our stop in Jupiter also gave us a chance to have a great visit with my cousin Joyce and my Aunt Marcia. Marcia recently celebrated her 90th birthday and seems ageless with her taking spanish classes and writing a book. I tried to get her sign up for our little cruise but she declined. Probably too busy. Joyce, on the other hand, may be ready to take the plunge (probably another bad choice of words).

Now it's on to Lake Worth, Florida and crossing the stream to the Bahamas! We'll leave at midnight so that we arrive during the day. Our Verizon cell phone will not work and we won't have internet connections except when staying at a marina, so it may be some time before the blog will be updated.