Santa Barbara Lake, Pompano Beach (MM 1056.9) to Lake Worth, West Palm Beach, FL (MM 1018.4)
Theme of the day: So. Many. Bridges. And Still Very Much Southern/Central Florida Coast…A bit ostentatious
With our first longer day ahead of us, more than double the distance of Day 1, we were finally starting to stretch our legs. At a little over five hours underway, this would be our first real opportunity to find our rhythm and settle into life on the ICW.
And So It Really Begins
At a very comfortable 9 a.m. start, we raised the anchor and got underway.
The stretch from Santa Barbara Lake in Pompano Beach to Lake Worth was still very much South Florida at its finest (and flashiest!). We cruised past a seemingly endless parade of waterfront mansions, manicured lawns, towering condos, and marinas packed with expensive yachts…
…and more bridges than anyone should have to count!
Thankfully, we could slip beneath most of them without waiting for an opening. Of the 17 bridges we passed that day, only THREE needed to open for us. And not to toot our own horn, but we timed those openings almost perfectly! By setting waypoints just before each bridge, checking our estimated arrival times, and adjusting our speed accordingly, we managed to arrive right on schedule. So…Toot Toot!
As we continued north, things slowly started to feel a little less congested. Less urban craziness, more wealthy suburban sprawl. We were getting comfortable cruising the ICW, seeing and being seen, and everything was starting to feel surprisingly smooth.
Speaking of flashy, as we approached Hillsboro Beach, we found ourselves cruising along the aptly nicknamed Millionaire’s Mile. And WOW, did it live up to its name! HUGE waterfront mansions lined the waterway, each seemingly trying to outdo the last.
We even passed an electronic speed sign that displayed our speed and rewarded us with a little smiley face for behaving ourselves. Naturally, I couldn’t resist breaking into a little Will Smith.
Remember Summertime by DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince? THE summer anthem of 1991! Where are my Gen Xers at?!
Just like that, we had our own ICW remix:
Cruisin’ past mansions, just maxin’ and relaxin’,
Chillin’ on the boat while the rich folks are waxin’.
Seven knots or less, gotta keep that wake down,
Everybody’s watching as we roll through town.
Sunshine, palm trees, and a little boating madness,
Water Wings’ new definition of summer gladness!
And now that song will be stuck in my head for the rest of the day. You’re welcome!
Getting Into The Groove
We spent much of our first full day on the ICW figuring out exactly what our motors could deliver at different power settings and how that translated into speed and distance. This was a BIG deal for us.
We’d had plenty of conversations with Oceanvolt in Finland about whether our electric motors could realistically handle this kind of journey and, if so, how best to operate them without creating even more problems. They said yes, “they are built well”. That’s it. Okay. Well, based on our already tumultuous experience with them so far…we’ll see! (Spoiler Alert: We may have disagreed in the end).
For now, we had our best rough calculations and educated guesses based on their “shiny pamphlet numbers”, but what do things look like now that we are actually doing it?
Our motors were factory-rated for 12 kW of continuous output, with a maximum/peak output of 15 kW for 30 minutes. But we knew that real-world operating conditions, particularly heat and cooling, could limit how much power we could sustain over long periods.
And let’s face it, most people aren’t using these motors to motor day after day for a thousand miles. As we would eventually discover…there’s a reason for that. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet! 🙂
Thankfully, we found that we didn’t need to push them particularly hard to maintain a reasonable cruising speed. Our sweet spot seemed to be around 7.5 kW for each motor, comfortably below their rated continuous output. We hoped that would keep the motors cool, happy, and, most importantly, WORKING!
Another bonus? With the generator running to keep our propulsion batteries charged, we could also run the A/C. A perk for us no doubt, but it will also keep the hulls nice and cool and thereby providing extra cooling for the motors.
Of course, we were also crossing our fingers that the nasty summer thunderstorms would stay well away and that our charts would prove accurate. Because DAMN, we were also experiencing some shallow spots and crazy currents along this narrow waterway!
Changes in Scenery
As we continued north, the million-dollar mansions weren’t going anywhere, but at least they started spreading out a bit. Towering condos became less frequent, the mega-yachts began to thin out, and the waterway gradually opened into a mix of residential neighborhoods, waterfront parks, marinas, and occasional stretches where we could actually relax and take in the scenery.
Passing through Deerfield Beach and Boca Raton, the scenery was still distinctly South Florida. Palm-lined seawalls, waterfront restaurants, elegant homes, and beautifully maintained parks lined the route. Boca, in particular, was full of luxury condos, impressive waterfront estates, and plenty of boats out enjoying the day.
Further north, Delray Beach had a little more personality. With its lively downtown just a few blocks from the water, paddleboarders, fishing boats, and locals enjoying the waterway, it felt a little more laid-back than some of the ultra-upscale neighborhoods we’d just passed.
North of Delray, the waterway began to widen as we approached Boynton Beach, our home away from home for the previous two months. Funny it looks us HOURS to get here, vice the 40 min Tri-rail ride. Wish we could have stopped to spend more time with some of our favorite people who were kind enough to take care of us for a few months, but sadly…we were on a time line.
Then mangroves appeared more frequently, and the shoreline became a little less developed in places. By the time we reached Lantana, we were enjoying broader views across the lagoon, with seabirds beginning to compete with the waterfront mansions for our attention.
We were finally starting to feel like we were getting somewhere!
It was less gawking at super yachts and more about watching pelicans dive for food, waving to fellow cruisers, and settling into at the day.
Approaching West Palm
And then, seemingly out of nowhere, BOOM! We were in Lake Worth Lagoon, approaching the heart of West Palm Beach. The lagoon is a 20-mile long urban estuary in Palm Beach County, Florida. It separates the mainland (including West Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach) from the barrier island of Palm Beach.
After weaving through miles of relatively narrow ICW, Lake Worth felt ENORMOUS. The waterway opened into a broad expanse of water, with the barrier island separating us from the Atlantic to the east and the West Palm Beach skyline rising ahead to the west.
We’d arrived at one of Florida’s most popular cruising destinations, a place we’d return to several times for extended stays over the next two years.
We dropped anchor off the downtown waterfront, between the Blue Heron Boulevard and Flagler Memorial Bridges, with beautiful views of West Palm Beach. This time, however, we were only staying one night.
As the sun went down and the downtown lights began reflecting across the lagoon, we launched the dinghy and headed over to the free public city dock. One of the reasons cruisers love West Palm Beach is how accessible everything is from the water. You can tie up the dinghy and be right in the middle of downtown in minutes!
Naturally, we didn’t go far and wandered across the street to E.R. Bradley’s Saloon for a well-earned pint.
Two days down, 42.9 nautical miles under our belts, and the motors were still behaving. Not a bad start to our thousand-mile adventure north!
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