These big boats are amazingly clean...if you look closely at the side of the boat you can see the refelection of Deb and me in the dinghy.
When we went to lunch at a marina on Sunday they had some large Tarpon that stayed there because folks fed the. The one in the pictute is about 5 feet long, and just after Deb took this picture he came out of the water and tried to bite my hand...but missed.
The ICW...some of it has beautiful blue water
Here is an example of the hedges in Palm Beach. They are very big, and have some very creative shapes
This is a shot on the ICW looking at Palm Beach Town Dock Marina where we are today
I asked Deb to take this picture to give you a perspective on the size of these boats. If you look closely you will see a women standing on the swim platform.
The boat with the dinghy on the back is HQ, parked in our slip
Ben and Elizabeth who were kind enough to treat us to a great time...and dinner.
Log 118Day 328
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
6:20 AM EDT
Location: Palm Beach Town Docks; Palm Beach, FL.
Weather: 76 and windy...it will be 88, sunny and windy today
It only got down to 76 last night...and very muggy. It also remained windy, and the boat rocked in the slip most of the night. They are talking about setting a heat record today (90 degrees), and also predicting SW winds, with gusts up to 30 mph. The wrong direction for us in our slip.
Yesterday...we left our slip in Marina Bay at 9 am, and arrived at Palm Beach at 4 pm. The trip up the Intracoastal Waterway is very straight forward, and easy to navigate. The only real issue is, much of the waterway is narrow, and if you are going slow (like we were) you have a tough time dealing with big boats going fast. They put out large wakes, and they are so close to you, that it’s hard to get a good angle on the waves, and it really rocks our boat. It happened a couple of times, and while there was no damage, many things in the boat did turn over. I got on the radio at one point and asked this big Sea Ray if he was crazy, for going so close to us at full speed, instead of calling me on the radio and arranging an easy pass. His only reply was “sorry”...to which I said “you’re right...you are”. A normal day on the ICW. For dinner we were picked up by Ben and Elizabeth Gordon (Ben is a friend and business associate from my TLC days), and we went to a local Italian hot spot. It was packed, and you could tell this was a normal crowd. We had great food...and a great time. This is just a different part of the world.
As most are aware, the Palm Beach area is very beautiful...and very rich. I took a break from writing this log and walked the dock this morning, and the boats that have permanent slips here are awesome. Like a lot of the marina’s we have been in lately, our boat (45 feet) is definitely the smallest one. I also took a 4 block walk into town for breakfast this morning, and the houses and cars are amazing. I now know why General Motors is struggling. I saw BMW’s; Mercedes: Lexus; Bentley’s; and even a Rolls Royce...but no Chevy’s parked in the driveways. The other thing that is amazing is how everyone has grown, and trimmed their hedges. As you can see by the picture, they are very big. As I said...this is a different part of the world.
Today...we will be staying here one more day, so we can explore some of the area. Deb wants to get the bikes out...who knows where we (or she) can ride to from here. There are a lot of famous places close...including the world famous Breakers Hotel (we’ve stayed there a couple of times, and it is amazing). They might even have a tavern with a cheeseburger in the area...but I doubt it. Tonight we will be having dinner with Bill and Susan Donovan. Bill is the former CEO of C2...the parent company of TLC. He and I continue to stay in touch, and we look forward to seeing them again.
Our plans are to head out tomorrow and travel another 40 miles north, to the Palm City area, where we will be meeting up Jack and Char Meyering. They are friends who live here, and also have a home in Michigan. We are invited to stay at a private marina called the Floridian. The golf club, and marina, are owned by Wayne Huizinga (owner of Waste Management and former owner of the Florida Marlins). I don’t believe there any memberships...as they say it “Wayne just lets friends of his use the property”. Jack Meyering is one of Wayne’s friends...and we are one of Jack’s friends...so that is how we have been invited to stay at the marina. It’s too long of a story, but I got a call once from Jack’s son Ron, who was at the Floridian, and telling me that they were in the club house with Wayne, Greg Norman, Dan Marino, and several other celebrities who were there...just hanging out. That was also the day that Wayne bought Greg Norman’s 262 foot boat (that he just had built). Wayne then took the boat to a ship yard, and promptly cut off the top and rebuilt it...so he could land his jet helicopter on it. One more time...this is a different part of the world.
I’ll keep you posted.
Bob
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