North Lake Worth, Monday January 14, 2013

We left Peck Lake around 8am to get an early start on the 7 bridges we needed to traverse. The first one, Hobe Sound Highway Bridge, was on demand and easy. The next, 707 Bridge, which was called Jupiter Highway Bridge in the Waterway Guide we have, was not as easy. First of all, VHF 09 is the channel for bridges in Florida and can get fairly busy if there are a lot of bridges in close proximity, and there were 3 bridges right close together in Jupiter. I hail the bridge saying, ‘Jupiter Highway Bridge, Jupiter Highway Bridged, come in please. This is southbound sailboat Plumpuppet.’ All I could hear was all this gibberish, other boats calling other bridges, other bridgetenders answering, and this loud, low growl. Finally after hailing the bridgetender a couple of times and only getting a loud barking snarl, another boat says, ‘Quit yelling at her and help her out.’ I figure the snarl must be ours and tell Ken to pull ahead. The bridge slowly opens and we go through as I hear the boat behind us calling for the 707 Bridge. Then I realized that was what the bridgetender was yelling at me: ‘It’s the 707 Bridge, not Jupiter Highway.’ Sheesh! The middle bridge, Jupiter Federal Bridge, and it is Jupiter Federal, not some other name, is trickier, as it’s right around a blind corner just past the Jupiter Inlet so one can be swept quickly down towards it with the current, and it opens very slowly. Right after I hail the bridgetender and he says he’ll open right away and warns us about the current, the 707 Bridge tender hails him and said he has another boat coming, so we have to wait for the much slower sailboat behind us. It’s no problem as Ken turns the boat into the current, and usually the bridgetenders are fairly considerate. We go through that bridge and make another blind corner to the Indiantown Road Bridge, which opens on the hour and half-hour, slowing down to time our approach. After the Indiantown Road Bridge, we put the pedal to the metal to try to make the 3.6 miles to the Donald Ross Bridge that also opens on the hour and the half hour. Then 2 more bridges, the PGA and Parker Bridges and on into the North Lake Worth anchorage, a protected anchorage with a large marina, condos, and large houses. We get positioned and Orland and Carol from ‘Carolina’ stop by to say they are heading to West End Wednesday, while we are thinking of going all the way to Great Sale, leaving about midnight. We check with a couple of other boats as we head into town to stop at Duffy’s Sports Bar and Grill to check the internet. No one seems to be going to Great Sale and we’ll be on our own. Maybe we’ll change our plans and head to West End, a much easier and shorter trip. The weather still looks good and the crossing is still a go.