The Intra Coastal Waterway

Today we set sail (less sail more motor) from Fort Pierce on Slow Flight's first voyage! We travelled 50 miles down the coast through the Intra Coastal Waterway to arrive at Palm Beach just as the sun dipped below the horizon. 

The ICW, an alligator super highway, stretches 3000 miles from Virginia to Texas. We passed under a number of bridges and power cables, holding our breath with eyes skyward as we slipped under the power lines coming within a few feet of 11,000 volts shooting down our aluminium mast & frying our toes! Hoping the charts were right we motored down the skinny channel allegedly surrounded by one of the most prestigious and exclusive places to live in the whole of the USA, Jupiter Island.

We were impressed by the row upon row of meticulously manicured lawns, gingerbread houses and a huge number of ridiculously oversized suped up fishing boats....there must be some big fish out there!

While we waited for the bridges to open we kept our brains sharp with our Family Quiz book (by what other name do American's refer to 'Sasquatch'...? Foxed all onboard but Abe) read, had a yummy lunch courtesy of Esmé and danced like lemons to reggae music (see below post!)

After arriving in Palm Beach, fellow yachties Gemma & Sam picked us up and whisked us off to dinner in a fairy light grotto with fake waterfalls and real palm trees! Woozy from all the sunshine we were feeling a little tired, however with a little gentle coercion from Gemma we were convinced to check out a bit of local culture....as we walked through the entrance (with only one ID between Freyja & Esmé..paternal twin claim sneaked us past the burly doorman) all thoughts of tiredness were swept away as we found ourselves in a deep south country line dancing club...denim shorts...chequered shirts and diamonté cowboy boots prevailed. Much to Pippa and Gemma's excitement we got our groove on on the dance floor and hit the bucking bronco....With less cowgirl finesse than the locals...Pippa's glittery skirt proved a slight issue when landing on her head legs akimbo from the bucking bronco!

As much as we are embracing all that Florida has to offer we are still keeping our fingers & toes crossed in hope for a weather window to cross the gulf stream to the Bahamas!