On Christmas Day, we spent a nice quiet day aboard the boat. Around 2:00 PM, I started cooking and we finally ate around 7:30 PM. It was a good Christmas dinner with just the two of us. We called our families to wish them a merry Christmas and happy New Year.
On December 26, we decided to get off the boat for a while. Ron and Karen on Sea Dancer had just tied up at the Riveria Beach Marina and invited us over. We headed there and spent some time sharing cruising stories and recommendations about places that were a must see. After that, we headed to the grocery store to pick up a few essentials.
On December 27, we headed to the fuel dock at the Palm Beach Yacht Club for fuel. Unfortunately, they did not have enough fuel to complete our fueling. We returned to the anchorage, and after getting settled in and having breakfast, we came back on deck and saw Bob and Sherrie on Shamaal setting anchor. Shortly there after, Ron and Karen on Sea Dancer joined us at anchor. We dinked to Riveria Beach Marina and then walked to the local marine stores, we found some old fire hose to use as chafe protection in the used goods marine store. Finally Ehlissia came in and joined us as well. Needless to say, we had a cocktails evening aboard Nightwinds with everyone bringing food & drink. Bob and Sherrie were kind enough to dinghy sit our dinghy so that we would not have to put it back up when we went to take on more fuel on Tuesday.
On December 28, we headed back to the fuel dock to finish taking on fuel. We were not filling up just making sure we had enough to last our time in the Bhamahs, as fuel is double the cost. On the way to the fuel dock, we saw a manatee swimming south. When we returned, Bob, Ron and I went spear shopping. We heard from Henri and Anne on Sea Flat. They were headed down to anchor with us. After they arrived, we reviewed the weather. Initially we decided that we would cross; however, after additional data was reviewed we decided to postpone for a day.
On December 29, since we weren't crossing, Henri decided to get fuel. We watched his dinghy for him until he returned. On our way to return the dinghy, we pulled out our view bucket to check out the bottom since the water was so clear. Shamaal and Sea Dancer headed for Fort Lauderdale. They reported to us that the winds were from the NW with about 8 foot seas. We were definitely glad that we did not try to cross. Instead, we stayed in Lake Worth and enjoyed a relaxing day aboard the boat. We went over to Sea Flat for dinner of Spaghetti and salad. The evening flew by, and before we knew it, it was late so we packed up and headed back to Nightwinds.
We debated whether to put the dinghy away then or to wait until morning. Ultimately we decided that it would be better to put it away immediately. We hoisted the dinghy aboard and prepared the boat to get underway. That way, we could get an additional 30 minutes of sleep!
Voyages