Another Saturday on the Water

Friday night the winds were strong causing the anchor to really dig in. Hoisting it Saturday morning was a bit of a challenge, even with the windlass. But we got it in and left Lake Worth anchorage in time to catch Parker Bridge at 6:45 am. Even though we had 6 more bridges we only had to wait for one...missed it by 5 minutes so that means a 25-30 minute wait.

Florida has a hugh osprey population. They must need help with nesting because you see man-made nesting platforms everywhere.

Here's one we spotted.

Maybe this one lives on the nesting platform; it was perched nearby. As we were waiting for the bridge to open it put on a show. It dived into the water, came back out next to our boat and did that stop in mid-air that they do. Then it did a little shimmy dance and flew back to it's perch. No, I didn't catch any of that on camera...happened way to fast.

Nature does still provide good nesting spots for the osprey. Here's one on a “natural” nest.

If I posted a picture of this on the way down, forgive me. But it's so pretty I'm doing it again. It's in Jupiter, FL on the Loxahatchee River.

The Loxahatchee River is Florida's only designated wild and scenic river and is very shallow on the banks. Here are a few pictures.

Saturday morning with mom.

Now I know I dropped it somewhere in this area.

Cooling off!

The next body of water we entered on the ICW is the Hobe Sound. The Jove Indians, whose name the Spanish pronounced “Ho-bay,” is where Hobe Sound got it's name. A highly exclusive area, sometimes compared to Palm Beach, Hobe Sound shows off many grand mansions along the eastern shore. A National Wildlife Refuge on the western shore contrasts strikingly with the sculptured lawns across the channel. We were coming through in the morning so pictures on the east were too bright and there wasn't a lot to shot on the west bank.

Leaving Hobe Sound we entered the St. Lucie River. We made a hard starboard turn at Manatee Pocket heading west to Stuart, FL. Thought we were going to have to turn around and go back because here's what was sitting off our port side as we made the turn.

Phil's favorite place...a hot dog stand.

On westward to Stuart and tomorrow's story.