Mon Feb 10 - In which we meet ourselves

Lake Worth anchorage to Lake Boca anchorage

At the start of the day Rick was giving me some boring information about The Plan and I wasn't listening, when WE cruised right past ourselves!  I'm not kidding - the EXACT MainShip 40 with the same coloring went right by.  The only difference was the color of the top bimini.  I wasn't fast enough with my camera but it did happen.  I swear it!

Today was even more about the bridges - I've decided to start taking a picture of some of the different ones:

This one is under construction, so it's a temporary mechanism that lifts straight up.

We have to plan ahead to figure out how high each bridge is and, if it's too low, when/how it will open.  Some open on demand and some open on a schedule.  Regardless you must radio the bridge to politely ask permission to transit, and usually you thank them after you have cleared.

We are really in the area where people have more money than manners.  HUGE mega-yachts. Our little trawler would not be acceptable company for these fancy schmancy yachts.

Especially when we do our own maintenance, looking like this!

They say the difference between a boat and a yacht is that on a boat you do your own maintenance.

We got to the Boca anchorage with time to spare.  It's like being anchored in downtown, as there were office high rises all around.  It was pretty cool.  We first, with me driving, attempted to anchor in an area where there were no other boats. It turned out that no one was anchored in that area because it was skinny water (boat-speak for shallow).  And it was Kate Moss SKINNY.  We ended up with the depth gauge reading 0.0, and me freaking out and jamming it in to reverse.  Which possibly made the boat bump the bottom, but we're not sure (that's why Rick is checking out the prop in the picture above).  Anyway we found an anchorage, but had to let out very little scope (boat-speak for the amount of anchor chain you lay out) in order to keep from bumping other boats when we swing.

Best part of the day - Scout, the twin MainShip we saw was in the same anchorage and they dingy-ed over to say hello and invited us over for docktails!!!  We got to admire what they had done to their boat, and it was our first Looper boat date!  I think it went well, but we will have to see if they call us tomorrow!  They are a very interesting couple, from CA, and we hope to see them later on.

Scout

The problem with a short scope, it turns out, is that it yanks the boat up short when she swings (see  previous posts re the boat swinging like a puppy with ADHD).  This sudden jerk, on top of the usual washing machine sounds of the water slapping the bottom, was really a treat.  It was a long night...