It was early June and with hurricane season approaching, it was time to start moving north. After so many days at sea, we appreciated the protection of the ICW. And it was a new experience since it was our first time. Little did we know about the countless bridges and shallow spots waiting for along the way.
We made it to Juniper inlet on our first day. We promptly got stuck in the middle of the inlet and after a couple of attempts to cross it, we decided to anchor by the side and do some more research. It turned out that the ICW is by no means the reported 10 feet deep at all times. Luckily we found Bob’s ICW tracks on Facebook which from now on became our reference.
After a week in Key West, we were craving a bit more society. West Palm Beach provided us with exactly that.
The first joy is walking on the bicycle line along the water. It was such thrill, my heart was dancing and my feet were bouncing with the palm trees in gentle breeze. After 3 months on the boat, a little thing like this made me so happy and grateful, I was a happy baby just learned how to walk. As we anchored outside of the marina, we thought riding a dinghy to the shore is very convenient. Lift the dinghy on the rocky shore with calculation of high tide and low tide, we straight down to Publix, our favor place to go.
Everything in Publix is delicious to me. The store is clean and cool with good selections. We ended buying lot and sitting in the park next door enjoy our roast chicken, cold drink and fruit. That moment is a million dollar worth.
In the morning we sat on the deck listening birds watching boat passing by, and even more fascinating thing to see is helicopters taking off from next door neighbor super yachts.
We soon moved to the city dock where the city provides generous anchorage to boaters by the city center. For transit, boaters can tie up their boats for one night stay. With a short dinghy ride, we got on the land with water supply, grocery, restaurant and shops. The city started showing some lively signs of normal life in peace.
Now since we did not need to use water make, I needed to replace barring. The trip taken me one hour to Grainger by foot. Okay, one to do list got checked.
A few days later I found my right foot go swollen, and it got worse after, I could not walk anymore. Was it sandal? Later the discovery is the feet were sitting with no motion too long, calcium deposit cumulate and cause pain. This issue occurred for several times for a year, one of the life transition leave behind us.
