Our plans today was a short trip to Manatee Pocket and drop the hook. We checked NOAA and we were aware that "The Winter Storm of 2010" was incoming at a rather fast pace. This was a massive system that was going to create havoc all across the east coast. Winds were our biggest concern, not that we were crossing any great lakes. Winds can make it very difficult for steerage so we made 'fast tracks' to our next destination. Shortly around 1:00pm we turned into St. Lucie Inlet and we not only felt the wind but the sound of the wind was like a roaring freight train. Winds were sometimes gusting over 40 knots and needless to say the temperatures were no longer a balmy 70 degree. When we turned into Manatee Pocket we discovered that the dredge had literally blocked off a good section of anchorage, luckily there's another little anchorage close by and we dropped the hook. Just as we were warming up with a nice hot bowl of soup the heavens opened up and for a moment or two there was a thunderous pounding on the boat. Whew! Were we glad to be tied down for the day, it didn't last long but it was a hard fast moving system. That evening the temperatures did drop and the winds were persistent. We remained snuggled inside the cabin and prayed that the anchor wash down didn't freeze up this time.
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| December 26, 2010 Winter Storm warnings on the East Coast |
12/27/2010 Woke up to a very chilly morning. The winds were blowing somewhat, but we decided to head out to our next destination. Raised the anchor and the wash down pump worked beautifully, and thank goodness there was only a bit of gunk on the hook. The winds were blowing but not as fiercely as the day before.
Our trip to Lake Worth was rather uneventful until we came to Parker Bridge. When we came upon the bridge , we watched a sportfish slowly advance to the bridge and we could hear him talking to the bridge tender. He was checking his height, making several slow advances to see if he required an opening or could he squeak under. We say 'squeak' because this bridge's height can be difficult to figure out for the average trawler, let alone a sportfish with their outriggers. Now with the winds still whipping 20 knots, it adds a little more stress to the situation. In Florida if you request an opening and the 'Bridge tender' deems it unnecessary the boater can be fined up $10,000. This bridge tender was pulling all kinds of 'rank' on a day where she should have exercised a little more flexibility.
We found our spot in Lake Worth to drop the hook and enjoyed a quiet evening. Later that evening we learned that our friends in New Jersey were dealing with 34 inches of snow. So we didn't feel so bad with a little cold weather.
