Jensen Beach - on a mooring

 

You can see Fleetwing in the distance at right.
With a north wind, it’s very protected - not so much with a south wind.

The morning was clear but the afternoon let in thunderstorms with lots of rain. Somehow, the worst of the storms missed us through pure luck but the rain came down in buckets. With radar on and Aqua Map Master with the USACE survey overlays along with the Bob423 track, there was never a question of how to navigate the channels. 

 A view of the dinghy dock - very stable but not enough space

One tricky spot was the ICW crossing at Jupiter Inlet which we hit on a drain tide (-0.2). I took the Jupiter Bypass route and had 8 MLLW but I wouldn’t recommend it for just anyone. You go around a corner and you can’t see who’s coming. Plus, you have to hug the shore, much closer than most people find comfortable. If you venture too far away from shore, you run into a 3 MLLW shoal. 

We had intended anchoring in Hobe Sound but we got there so early that we decided to push on to Jensen Beach, reaching there around 3:45. For us, it’s convenient since we need to take Hoolie in twice today and once in the early morning tomorrow. They have a concrete dinghy dock that’s first rate and protected from any wave action. 

Our next stop will be the Loggerhead Marina at Vero Beach tomorrow and from there, move on to Titusville where we’ll have our new A/C unit installed. Then, we have no more appointments to keep and we can are our time going north.