Wednesday evening Palm Beach, Fl.

Written by Jack van Ommen on April 15th, 2009

I am anchored just inside the harbor entrance at 26.47 N 80.02 W I left Ft. Lauderdale at 6 a.m. and arrived here at 15.30 hrs. 50 nautical  miles in 9 1/2 hours. Mostly under sail. The first part motor and when the N.W. dropped and turned into a N.E. I motored for about an hour. The weather forecasters were way off. It was supposed to be S.W. 10/15 knots, never happened. Just the N.W. and the N.E. at around 8 to 12 knots. Great sail though.

I caught a nice small 12″ Blue Fin Tuna. Had most of it as sushi/sashimi for lunch with lime  juice and soya sauce. It melted in my mouth. I have been mocked for losing all those fish on the way from Luperon. This was a lure I had never tried out. I will broil the left overs for dinner. Last night I had Sweetbreads for dinner. They looked so good when I did my grocery shopping yesterday. Beef kidneys, in French Rognon de Boeuf. I cooked them in red wine.  Oh, there will be a few of you who could not be paid to eat them.  

The weather forecast was not very good to go North on the Atlantic, to-morrow, that’s why I tucked into Palm Beach. To continue for a day or more on the ICW.  My problem is that I have both my auto pilots sent out for repair and they have not done anything with them yet. To hand steer the ICW is not my idea of a fun retirement. I was tempted to keep going on the Atlantic but for the threatening thunder clouds and the weatherman talked about possible tornadoes and gusts to 50 knots/hr. But I might give it a try to-morrow. The next harbor to tuck into would be Ft. Pierce and then there is nothing till Orlando. I wished I could just keep going straight for Cheapeake but there are Norhterlies till Saturday and then another cold front moves in on Mon/Tues. So, I may end up in Green Cove Springs.

I posted a small slide show “Botanical Gardens”, see in the index on the right. I visited the Gardens on Easter Sunday after we had a birthday lunch for Jeannnine’s 40th Birthday.  Be sure to check out the web cam web site recording in real time the every moves of this Bald Eagle family. The chicks will soon be taking flying lessons.

Later after dinner: I was spared the wicked part of the thunderstorms. Last nigth we had some dime size hail crystals in the lightning storms. I had Fennel/Anise with the tuna. 

Thursday Morning: I fell asleep messing with the Blog. Still a slow learning process. I have an excellent wi-fi connection here in the anchorage, so, I did some more work on the Blog. I am going to take the ICW because the chance of me getting into Fort Pierce from the Atlantic before the N.E. pipes up to 20/25 knots is too risky. It’s a beautiful colder morning but it will warm up into the high eighties. 

I insert a picture that I took  following the coast north from Ft. Lauderdale. The Twin Adobe color Towers are the hotel that, Greg, the skipper of Lohengrin treated the departing crew couple, Laura and Andy to for their last weekend in the USA. The other picture I took Saturday before Palm Sunday at their hotel when we all crashed their suite prior to all going to the crew party. Note Marlys’s dress up for the Gilligan Island theme of the party.

And I add one more picture I took from the plane just before landing back at Ft. Lauderdale.

 

Dad/Jack

 

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