It seems that all my posts start when I am leaving the last place, but my last post was about leaving the Bahamas, and officially leaving the Caribbean The Bahamas were a lovely limbic space, in the North Atlantic with challenging tides and the Atlantic’s waves but with Caribbean friendly vibes and hot days, closing out one geographical chapter and opening another.
Weeks ago, Paul, Greg and I left Grand Bahama and sailed the 90 miles to Boca Raton, Florida. It was our first time entering the mainland US with our vessel, and we cleared in online (thanks CPB ROAM app). It was also our first time witnessing the Gulfstream, which is just delightful when you’re going its way and relentless if you aren’t. As I write this it’s pushing us forward with an additional 3.5 knots in the right direction.
We arrived at Boca Raton around 11pm on a Sunday night, and had to request the bridge to be raised for our passage. Once through, we entered the Intercoastal Water Way- which runs for most of the Eastern Seaboard- and followed that up by slipping into Lake Boca Raton, where we dropped anchor in sluicy slippery mud, and went to sleep after a long 16 hour sail day.
Lake Boca, home to Boca Bash we soon found out, was a calm salty pond amidst the ICW, with bridges on three sides, and was a popular weekend spot for drinking on powerboats. Fishing boats raced by daily, bringing tourists and locals alike out to the ocean to try to hook the big one, and jarring us with their wake frequently. The anchorage was close (sometimes a little too close we found), and quite shallow in areas. It wasn’t uncommon to see people standing in waist deep water near their boat.
From our boat we could dinghy to a well-kept Silver Palm park with a dinghy dock, water, and fish cleaning station. The water was usually littered in fish guts that would be sent out to sea with the strong changing tides, which were visually evident multiple times a day, as well as felt. The park was clean and nice, and we soon rented a car and were able to leave the Tesla there after some parking spot hunting.
Boca was nice, and we really enjoyed being able to stock up at Trader Joe’s, buy good bagels for breakfast, go on morning jogs, and buy things in bulk again. Here are the things I noticed about Boca that left an impression on me:
- I forgot Americans aren’t as friendly as our smiles look- if you wish people good morning or good afternoon on the street, they usually look confused.
- Boca loves small designer dogs. Paul remarked that we didn’t see any of those classic so-Cal dogs (pit bulls and chihuahuas) or even labs and golden retrievers. They just loved those little teddy bear purse dogs and we saw them everywhere.
- Boca is obsessed with beating back nature by using gas powered leaf blowers. Every morning, we were awakened by the awful buzz of the blowers- It was a full time constant job. They alternated which side of the street to blow all the debris to, sending it back and forth across intersections.
- Boca is building. They are building huge condos and hotels everywhere you look.
- Boca is suburban nature. We loved the parks for walking, the curly tailed lizards, the green anoles, the ibises, giant ducks, the invasive red headed lizard. WE even saw a Flamingo fly through the air one night.
- The Intercoastal Waterway is super cool. Some people only cruise it all year, and I could see that being a fun way to explore the US. We cruised part of it, and in Boca the ICW is surrounded by very wealthy houses on both sides (think triple lots, ,6 bedroom, 12 ft garden sculpture, infinity pools wealth) but I imagine that’s not the view everywhere you go.
- We love Wawa’s now. We are Wawa’s disciples. We ate there multiple times, originally at my behest, but Paul fell instantly in line. We would have tried Sheetz, but of course, there isn’t one for hundreds of miles.
- Everyone who drives in Boca says that the people drive like New Yorkers here. Not sure what that means, but they certainly didn’t drive like Californians.
Now of course, it’s time to move. We have a loose plan outlined, and we needed to up anchor and keep on trekking north. The days are getting longer, and although its hot, I can feel the difference in the cool air coming across the Atlantic. At this time, we have sailed 26 hours and gone almost 200 NM. But the most important thing is- our noon to noon distance traveled was 184 NM, our personal best, in large part thanks to the trusty Gulf Stream.
We are exploring parts of the US that Paul and I are not familiar with and having a great time seeing our country from the water. Our next stop? The Hostess City.
More soon!
Love
Lindsay and Paul
TIBURON MARINO 