26:13.369N 80:05.844W Boca!

Timeandtide
Sun 25 Feb 2018 17:05
Quite possibly the most surreal leg of our journey on the ICW. Following the noseeum attack the night before we carried on through Palm Beach, there was an unusual amount of traffic about, but it was a Sunday so we figured everyone was out enjoying the water. We carried on, the waterway got narrower and the bridges more frequent. These bridges however did not open when you wanted them to, they had specific opening times and you had to make sure you were sitting outside them ready to go through when they opened. In some places it was carnage, boats jostling for space and trying not to collide with one another (or was that just me? I took a turn at trying to keep the boat at a standstill by just using the engine controls in forward and reverse. Not easy but Ric said I did a pretty good job for my first attempt, and i didn't hit anybody).
 
The further we went, the bigger and more extravagant the houses and the boats. No sailing boats here, everyone has a powerboat, and there were plenty of them. We arrived at Boca and thought we'd hit 'party central'. The world and his wife were all gathered here in one spot in their hundreds. All on their boats, stereos blaring and beer flowing, it was like Glastonbury on water! You cant believe the wealth here, its staggering - and a little obscene. It was only later that night we found out that it was actually Spring Break, hence all the beautiful young people out getting plastered on mummy and daddy's boat. I was a little embarrassed going through here, not only did it make me feel old because I couldn't stand the noise, but that morning I had decided to do some laundry and one side of the boat was covered with mine and Richard's 'smalls' hanging out for all of Boca to see. Classy.
 
Stayed the night in Lake Santa Barbara then headed for Fort Lauderdale in the morning.
 
Not content with just a dinghy on the back, the boat on the left has a mini sub!
Monica with the miracle Wonder Wash. For all you doubters, it did a pretty good job of washing our clothes whilst giving you a full upper body workout.