December 28-30, 2021 - West Palm Beach

December 28, 2021

6/30am- woke up to take a shower before our 

7:00am departure to West Palm Beach.  Gunter and Sue will be motoring beside us. No more fast wifi for awhile. We will have to anchor once we get there since there is no room for transients at the marinas. 

7:30am-  Shortly after we left, our engine light went off.  We had to anchor in the ICW 3 times. First time, Steve looked at the engine and thought it was ok when the alarm stopped. Second time, Sue and Gunter turned around and motored beside us to give us their engine temperature gun. It was not overheating and the alarm stopped once again. Steve removed the thermostat thinking that might be the issue. After hearing that annoying but much needed alarm, Steve added water in the engine internal cooling system and voilà, problem solved. 

Off we quietly motored at the 196 marker. We have some catching up to do since Gunter and Sue are at marker 202. ( about 3 miles ahead of us). 

12:09pm- Crossed Hobe  Sound Bridge at mile 995 (marker 30). 

1:15pm We went thru 707 Bridge and then Jupiter Federal Bridges. Such a busy place.  These bridges open on request   

Within 10 minutes, we made it for the 1:30 pm Indiantown Road bridge. 

We finally met up with Sue and Gunter. 

2:00pm As we were going thru the Donald Ross Bridge, I received a text from Sue that a gas can fell out of their dinghy and they turned around. Apparently someone picked it up for them but they missed the bridge. They will now have to wait for the 2:30pm bridge opening. We told them we will meet them at the Parker bridge. 

3:15 Sue and Gunter made the bridge 

4:00pm- We are  anchored around Peanut Island at the mouth of the West Palm Beach inlet. 

4:30pm- We dinghies over to Sun Spirit to discuss Covid testing in the morning.

Came back to the boat around 6:00pm and we had pea soup with homemade bread. 

It was a beautiful evening. We watched a movie under the stars. 

Night shot from our boat. 

December 29, 2021

4:30am-  The boat really started rocking and then I heard a big bang and looked outside. We have hung the dinghy half way and after inspection we noticed the 1/4 “ bolt sheared and made half the dinghy fall in the water. Steve and I were up for an hour to repair it. Drilled it out and put 5/16” so now they are stronger with fresh bolts. 

8:00am-  Took our dinghies to Rybovich marina to get our Covid testing at 9:15am.  Found out it only cost $179 US and we are guaranteed the results within 24 hr. Covid is sure costing us. 

When we returned from the marina, Steve put back the thermostat back in the engine since he took it out earlier. In doing so, water got in the bilge. While he went to fill up Jerry cans with diesel in order to top off our tank, I cleaned the water out of the bilge. Steve later fixed the tachometer. Always something to keep him out of trouble. 

I made great tuna sandwiches for lunch. 

2:00pm - We dinghied around to find a place where we would be able to dock on order to walk to a Publix store tomorrow. We picked up ice at the Riviera Beach Marina. 

3:30-  Went to Gunter and Sue’s boat to see if we could assist them in properly setting up their Bimini. Unfortunately, we were not successful. More dollar boat money will be needed to change it another year. At least it is functional for this year. 

Had a few drinks and hors D’oeuvres before coming back to our boat to steak, broccoli and salad along with a glass of wine. 

It was finally nice to relax and watch a cruise ship go by. It makes all the hard work the past couple of weeks worth it. 

Now we anxiously wait to get our Covid results so we can finally get to the Bahamas. 

Watched a movie before going to bed. 

Can’t believe we went to bed at 8:30pm 

December 30, 2021 

Woke up at 6:00am. I miss my morning walks but now have to change my routine since we are anchored. I decided to start doing weighs and stretching exercises. I brought my 10 pds weighs. 

7:00am-  When Steve woke up, we enjoyed our coffee and breakfast. 

9:00am- It has been a very stressful day. I received my Covid test but Steve, Gunter and Sue have not. 

10:00am-  Steve received his but not Gunter and Sue. Gunter decided to go to the office since we were suppose to get results within 24 hrs. Steve went for the ride. Just as they arrived, Sue received it via email. 

The next step now was to apply for the Travel Health Visa. You have to download the Covid results.

11:30am-  in the meantime, we took our dinghy to get groceries at Publix. During that time, we received an email requesting  $40 each to finalize it. Now for the fun part. You have to download the Approved Travel Visa onto the Cruising Permit. Once that is approved, they want $600 US for the 6 months permit. 

1:45-  And now we wait for the approved Cruising permit. 

In between all that, I made a loaf of bread and prepared dinner. 

3:00pm- After the bread came out of the oven, Steve and I went for a walk at Peanut Island. He went for a swim and then used the public shower to wash off the salt. 

4:00pm-  Sue and Gunter came by the boat tdinish processing their visa and print it seeing that we have a printer. Hopefully all is good. 

5:00pm- We prepared for our 4am departure. We took the motor off the dinghy and tied it down to the boat, secured the dinghy, made sure all was secure for departure. 

Dinner tonight was chicken, potatoes, broccoli and carrot cokes in a cream of celery soup. 

7:00pm-  Had to remove cellular chip from my Cdn data plan and place the Bahamian one so we can receive calls and email Thru our Bahamian number when we cross.  As of tomorrow when we cross my Canadian number will not work unless we have wifi. We switch to our Bahamian #. We do receive our email using the Bahamian data at a cost. 

Watched a movie before going to bed.