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CRUISE Day 3 - Sunday, July 21, 2002
Left Stuart at 11:30 am
and went up the St. Lucie River which is about 5’ – 6’ depth. Went past “Hell’s Gate” which is appropriately named – if you don’t stay in the markers, you end up in Hell! It is the inlet leading out into the Atlantic Ocean. With it being Sunday, the waterways were very busy with Sunday boaters out for the day….having lunch at the “floating hot dog stands”. We passed through Jupiter around 3:00 pm – gorgeous houses with almost every one having not only their own dock but a sandy beach as well. Once we reached North Palm Beach we finally saw “Aqua Water” due to it being right at the Inlet to the Atlantic Ocean. Very nice after going through the Okeechobee Waterway which we will be calling
“Coca Cola Creek” from now on! We pulled into the Sailfish Marina on Singer Island at North Palm Beach at 4:30
pm. It was such a great spot we decided to stay a few days. This Marina has everything we wanted….a wonderful restaurant, with several other close by, a pool, ship’s store, shower facilities and the Atlantic Ocean just a short walk away. We had dinner at the restaurant and Barry said it was the best grouper dinner he has had in years (with the exception of mine, of course). We went back to the boat to get Salty and walked to the beach – at night. It was Salty’s first time on a beach and he loved the crashing waves even though he couldn’t really see them! He ran up and down the waves and sand…then found a 9 week old Lab puppy to play with. For the very first time, Salty had met his match – this pup was relentless! The salt water and sand made Salty more like a “Cement
Coated Wheaten Terrier” than a Soft Coated one, so a stop at the shower before getting onto the boat was definitely in order. He slept well that night!
Marina Day - Monday, July 22nd and still at Sailfish Marina - it was a very relaxing day and we didn’t do much of anything except read, eat, drink and walk around the dock. There are so many different kinds of tropical fish…even saw a stingray right off the dock. The local Charter fishermen come back from their day on the water and will clean the fish you catch at the dock….there are huge Jack fish waiting to devour the bits and pieces the fishermen throw into the water. We had another wonderful dinner at the Sailfish Restaurant but brought Salty with us to the restaurant this time. We sat outside beside the open doors and Salty was able to lie on the cool floor in the bar and waited to devour the bits and pieces we were going to throw to him!
Marina Day - Tuesday, July 23rd we decided to stay another day and did much of the same thing as yesterday – nothing – but enjoy ourselves! We walked to the beach and Salty could actually “see” the waves this time!. He went running right out into the Ocean and the waves would carry him back. He then ran up the beach, lying in the surf when he was too tired to run anymore. We walked up the beach until we found some beach chairs at one of those posh hotels…the Marriott, I believe, drank Rum Runners (Salty had Evian) and felt very much like tourists. We could get used to this! We then went to an “excellent” Italian Food restaurant for dinner “Max & Eddies”. The Marina staff called for their friendly neighborhood cab driver that just happened to be “off duty” to drive by and pick up us – “no charge he says, I was just out with the family for ice cream anyway”…. Of course we did pay him, but the warmth and thought of this gesture was wonderful. Food was awesome and if you are ever on
Singer Island, this is a must to go to! After dinner, the restaurant owner drove us back to the Marina, so this is obviously a very friendly and accommodating town. Wednesday, we will venture out
on the water again but won’t go too far before we dock again. Don’t want to hurry, do we!
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