Payoff The National Debt

     Today was a very long day for us on Big Run.  We started the day at 7:35 a.m. by weighing anchor to a very cold morning  at Manatee Pocket (Port Salerno, FL).  Once again we were heading south on the ICW.  One of the obstacles we would encounter today were the numerous bridges.  I guess the days of bridges with 65 feet of clearance in the center span are behind us.  Some of the bridges had 35 foot clearance which we can navigate without requesting an opening.  Big Run's air draft is 28 foot including the 2 VHF antennas.  And then there were the bridges which required us to contact the bridge tender on VHF and request an opening.  In total, there were 19 bridges, and of those 19 bridges 15 needed to be opened for us.  The real challenge is calculating your distance and speed to the next bridge for some of those bridges only open at certain times.  Some bridges open on the hour and half hour, others open at the quarter hour before and after the hour.  If you didn't calculate your speed and distance correctly you either got to the bridge to early or you miss the opening altogether.  There were some that opened on request. They're our favorites. And so our day went, bridge after bridge, 19 bridges and 60 miles later we finally dropped anchor at 5:15 p.m.

      We also had a very pleasant surprise today as we passed through Jupiter, FL.  This was the first time that we were able to see the bottom.  Very interesting to see the bottom after all the miles we have traveled in murky waters.  Despite being in 14 feet of water, the water was crystal clear in that we could see the bottom as we motored on at 7 MPH.  We also found that our anchorage for the evening, Lake Boca Raton also had clear water.  That was the first time I was able to drop and set the anchor and could see exactly how our gear worked.  The Chesapeake Bay never had water so clear that you could see bottom.

      Another observation today was the the extremely lavish mansions on shore and the numerous floating mansions.  We have always seen nice homes along the ICW but not like today in North Palm Beach, Palm Beach, Delray Beach, Boca Raton.....Get the drift?  When I say floating mansions we are talking 160 feet plus - mega-yachts.  To sum up the area I said " Too many people with too much money" and Sharon said "If you could convert all the mansions and mega-yachts to cash you could pay off the national debt!".