Monday, January 03, 2000

Chapter 29: The Intercoastal


6:25 AM
Monday, January 03, 2000
Day 29
Lighthouse Point Marina
Lighthouse Point FL.

Hello to everyone. Because I have had trouble sending my e-mail, you will probably receive all of these together, instead of every day, like I have written them. Sorry.
Yesterday, we took extra time to clean the boat. Everyone pitched in, but Carl, and Steve really handled things. It was one of those beautifull sunny, warm mornings, so it was fun to get wet and clean at the same time.

With the cleaning done we left North Palm Beach at about 10:15 AM. We got on the Intracoastal at MM 112 and were now at MM 153, so we went 41 miles. During those miles we were talking about how I could describe what we were seeing along the way.

First of all the channel is very narrow in most places. Secondly, the body of water that the channel is in is very narrow. In some cases it is a natural river, or small stream the has been dredged. In other it is a man made cement canal carved between land to allow for the Intracoastal to continue. If you look on a map in most cases you won't see the Intracoastal down here because it is so narrow, and also so close to the Atlantic. Parts of the way, there would be a house separating us from the ocean. Their front yard was the Atlantic, and the back was the Intracoastal. What if a hurricane came? Forget about it!

The other thing is the wealth. There is no way that I can think of to describe it. We all agreed we passed many billions of dollars worth of real estate along the way, but we're not sure how many billions. Then there were the boats. Every size, shape, and color you can imagine. Remember the James Bond boats, Octopussy, and Moonraker? We saw them at the Palm Beach Resort and Marina. Just about the time we saw what we thought was the biggest, and best, a bigger, and better boat would come along. For a boater, this is heaven.

Today, I am going to change the oil, as soon as I finish this message. It's time for both the engines, and the generator. Not a job I'm looking forward to, but it must be done. With Carl, and Steve helping it should go much faster. Then we'll head a few miles further south.
Only three days left on this leg of the trip. By Wednesday we'll be in Ft. Lauderdale (we're only 15 miles from there now) and Carl will be heading home, and Steve and I will meet up with our senior management team, and begin a three day management meeting. Then we head home on Sunday. My plan is to leave the boat in a different boat yard than originally planned. We have found a place to re-do the bottom paint, and that same place can store the boat for less that the other place I found. Now, the question is will the first marina let me out of the contract.

Well I'm heading for the engine compartment. Talk to you soon.

BK.

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