Tues, March 9, 2010 - Boca Raton, FL

The forecast sounded favorable to continue our trip north so we pulled anchor and left Sunset Lake at 7:30 am. We waved goodbye to our friends and set out for Boca Raton. It was cloudy; there was not much wind and the temperature was cool. We had heard on the radio this morning that Miami Government Cut, the major inlet from the Atlantic where all the cruise ships dock, was open to pleasure craft today. Whenever cruise ships are at the docks, there is heightened security and pleasure craft are directed south of Dodge Island instead. The ships had all left during the night or early this morning and we were allowed to pass.


We traveled 35 nautical miles on the Atlantic and re-entered the ICW at the Hillsboro Inlet north of Fort Lauderdale for the remaining 7 miles. By going on the “outside,” we avoided 14 lift bridges. Besides, it was a lovely day on the Atlantic – nearly flat, but for the boat wakes – and we enjoyed the trip. Quite likely, we would not have been able to travel as far today if we had stayed on the intracoastal waterway. As it turned out, we arrived at Lake Boca Raton around 3 pm and found a wonderful place to anchor for the night. Our anchorage was only a few hundred yards from Silver Palm Park and the Palmetto Park Bridge where we found a nice public dock with easy access for our dinghy. Maureen’s brother, John, lives in Boca Raton and was already on his way to pick us up. At 5 pm, we met John at the park where he loaded us up in his vehicle and gave us a tour of the area as we drove to his home where Aura and Aaron were waiting for us. Aaron had only a few minutes before his mom would be driving him to catechism class, but he was happy to see us and we were glad to be able to deliver his birthday card personally. His ninth birthday is tomorrow.



Aura met us at one of their favorite local spots for pizza. Maureen had been craving pizza lately and was very pleased with the dinner. We wished we could have spent more time with them, but felt we needed to continue our northward journey tomorrow. John took us back to the dock where we boarded the dinghy and found our way home to Blue Heron.