Lake Worth North in Palm Beach to Faber Cove–Ft. Pierce
45.7 NM 6 hours 53 minutes
We rewarded ourselves an extra 30 minutes this morning before leaving. The bridge opening was a little later, so we took advantage and had took smaller sips of our coffee. The day’s forecast was perfect, with no threat of rains or storms. More beautiful homes kept us looking. Luxury yachts 100+ feet long are commonplace here. The young men that work on these boats have job security. It takes elbow grease and gallons of sweat to keep these beauties in top condition, so the cleaning and maintenance crews are full time on many boats.
I really think I could put a few balls in the water on this hole. 
Our first bridge of the day–we were ready 4 minutes before the scheduled opening. 
I always laugh when I see these signs. They tell me I can now increase my speed to 25 mph. But 8 mph is all can we can do…assuming the current is behind us. 
One of these condo units, near Jupiter, belongs to our good friends, the Stein’s, from Rochester, NY. We have visited with them here a couple times. 
This isn’t a side creek; it’s the middle of the ICW. The bridge tender told me to blast the horn if they wouldn’t move as I approached. He said I had the right of way. I crept closer and they moved, without incident. One of the funnier scenes to me. Fishing must be real good right here. 
I believe this is the Federal Bridge. It opens on demand, so we didn’t have to time this opening. 
Our son, Ben, has been on this boat. It’s a beast in every sense of the word. This steel hulled ship literally travels the world. We met the captain last year, but we had never seen the boat.
After we were underway, we reached out to Chris/Alyse Caldwell, who are from Vero Beach. They are professional boat trainers. We hired Chris in early 2019 to train us on our boat. He traveled with us from Daytona Beach to Brunswick. I learned the basics of maintenance and boat handling from Chris. He is an excellent teacher and communicator. His knowledge of boats is broader than most; his people skills excel, and he’s a pleasure to have around. He built my confidence, encouraged me, and made sure I was prepared to handle a boat like this before leaving us in Brunswick.
We rendezvoused with them in Ft. Pierce. They suggested the Faber Cove anchorage, one much better than the one we had planned. Then they worked out an arrangement in a private marina with one of their contacts, allowing us to park our dinghy for a couple hours. They picked us up in their van and took us to a restaurant where we had an early dinner and a great visit. It was good to catch up with them. I regret that I failed to get a picture of them.
Faber Cove was similar to the Sunset Basin, in that it was almost completely surrounded by land. Nice condos on all sides, we enjoyed the anchorage with only one other boat. We were well protected from the wind and had plenty of swing room.
We returned to the boat after dinner, I did a little blogging, Amanda did a little knitting, and we called it a day.