Sandi Land in West Palm

We moved to West Palm and were glad we did!  The anchorage is between  draw spans so the speed of the powerboats is down and there are  3 huge public docks you can tie your dink to.  There is plenty of water & room for the big boats but you are not supposed to tie overnight.  We met some folks on a trawler who had engine problems and had been on the dock for several days without any problems so go figure. The waterfront area is chock a block with restaurants and shops.  Everything from a Ruth Chris Steakhouse to a Subway and Old Navy to Macy's.  Something for all tastes & price ranges.  They also have 2 free shuttle lines, the Yellow & the Green.  There is a Publix Grocery a few blocks away and if you buy too much you can take the Yellow Line back!  We arrived on a Monday and a place called Luther's was having $1.00 hamburgers!  For one dollar you get the burger, bun & lettuce.  Cheese is .75 and veggies and sauces are .50 each.  So a hamburger with lettuce, tomato, onion and mayo costs $2.50!  And to top it off, it was a good burger!  We had a group of 8 cruisers and it was a blast. 

The real treat at West Palm was their 6 ton sand sculpture of a Christmas tree.  The place was beautiful with decorations as well as "Peppermint Putt-Putt".  At night with the light on is was fantastic and the lights were coordinated with the music during the Tree Lighting Ceremony.  As Rob & I were walking through admiring all of the handiwork a Cuban gentleman started speaking with us and said that nowhere, nowhere in any of the decorations did the phrase Merry Christmas appear.  He said there was 1 Merry Xmas but no Merry Christmas.  There was no Happy Chanukah anywhere either even though there was a Menorah.  I looked at the man, shook his hand and said "Merry Christmas, sir". 

There is a fantastic Farmers Market on Saturdays at West Palm.  Since we were not sure what they had we provisioned on Friday as we planned to leave after the market.  What a mistake!  Not only was the produce much fresher & prettier it was also much cheaper at the Saturday Market.  We will definitely go back to West Palm!  After we investigated the market & bought some tomatoes we headed towards the inlet at Lake Worth to make our crossing.

                                              

           

We knew that if we got fuel & water we could still make the last of the outgoing tide to give us a kick to the Gulfstream and the Little Bahama Banks.  We made the 12:15 opening at the Flagler Bridge and off we went to the inlet and on towards the Bahamas.  The winds were light from the north and the gulfstream was forecast for 2-3 ft with occasional 4.  Sounded good to us.