Why Lake Worth just works for us

Lake Worth (West Palm Beach), FL has just "worked" for us coming and going to the Bahamas over the years. It's pretty much the northernmost "easy" crossing point and has been an easy place for us to do last-minute provisioning and COVID requirements. The inlet is easy to navigate day or night (ok, maybe not on sunny weekend afternoon with all the small boats!) and I also like the option to dinghy over to Peanut Island for some exercise.

Trent & I were pretty excited to see the bottom!

There are many anchoring options from North Palm Beach to West Palm Beach. Perhaps the biggest challenge is where to get fuel and pump out. We emptied our holding tank while we were offshore so we didn't have to worry about that, even with an extended stay on the hook. Fuel was a little harder as one of the main fuel docks in the area is currently shut down, but we hit one we were familiar with in North Palm Beach to top up. Dinghy landing spots run from $16 for a few hours in Riviera Beach to free under a bridge or at the West Palm Beach Public Dock (locks are recommended at those), or the Palm Beach Sailing Club (PBSC) lets transients tie up and use their showers/trash/parking/wifi for $20/day when they have space. We were lucky and got in with PBSC before they had to close it down as the dock was FULL! It's a great place to get mail, tie up safely, and meet other cruisers.

We rented a car for three days and could have Uber'd to the rental place, but there is actually a local bus that got me there for $2. We picked up a big birthday present, propane, COVID vaccine boosters, and LOTS of provisions while we had the car. We also hit Walgreens for a drive-through COVID test--that was SUPER easy and we had our results in less than 2 hours. We also hit downtown WPB for some great happy hour dinners (Crazy sushi deals and all-you-can-eat tacos? Yes, please!) while we had the car! Returning the car was just as easy with another bus ride back.

A stupid amount of food and booze; we got shot up; momma got mail!

PBSC is walking distance to a drug store, bank, really good taco truck, and a few local laundromats that aren't fancy, but they work. There are also a few Latin grocers that had plenty of good fresh food for our taste. A little further walk or a bus ride gets you to a big marine chandlery. And it’s a short dinghy ride to Peanut Island.

Heading to the laundry that is next to Dani Market (an awesome Latin grocer!); Trent stylin' for a walk around Peanut Island with another cruising family. 

We started to make plans for a departure and were happy to have old friends on S/V Pleiades anchor nearby. Trent loved reconnecting with friends so we made the decision to celebrate his birthday a little early so we could ensure he celebrated with friends and that we had help eating a big cake! We also met some other cruisers on S/V Northern Light that were about to celebrate a birthday, so...party on S/V Lehe Paine! It was so great to celebrate with a crowd, especially as we had all knocked out COVID tests!

Birthdays are so much better with friends! We celebrated Trent and Rob with a chocolate-peanut butter swirl cake and "COVID-safe" candle ops; Trent got his new Xbox!

As we looked at weather windows we realized we needed another COVID test to meet the Bahamas timing requirements. Without a car this got a little more complicated, but not too bad. We went with a free option at a CVS testing center that wasn't a drive-through. We could reach it by bus so we made a day out of it, hitting Game Stop to sell some old games and Target for, well, Target as we were out.  

Between Uber, Lyft, the bus, and rental cars, this place is just easy. And it works for us!