Anchoring in Boca Raton

If I mention Boca Raton, you may be thinking about trophy wives, prostitutes, assorted gold diggers, and of men in their 50s and 70s spending money in a last attempt to look interesting before they get sick and die. Sure you’ll see men parading in ridiculous cars and superlative boats, but for me Boca Raton is a nice little lake right next to an inlet.

In Boca Raton my schedule was dictated by the tides. I could head to sea at any time but to paddle my kayak back into the inlet, I needed the incoming tide. I learned this through experience. The first time I went Spearfishing, I came back into the inlet just as the current started flowing out. The Ocean swell transformed into rolling waves as it met the outgoing current. The rollers almost sank me, lesson learned.

The Spearfishing was not great but I could get pan fish to share with my fellow cruisers. The unrelenting east winds reduced the visibility, but even if the water had cleared up it still would not have been a spearfishing paradise since the inlet’s dirty water output had destroyed all bottom life in front and north of the entrance. The street drain in Boca Raton have signs confirming that they drain directly into the waterway.

While I was in town, I had the privilege of seeing the Intracoastal Christmas parade!

Cruisers, a bit like the motor home crowd, have strange customs. One of them is the Christmas parade on the Intracoastal.

In the morning, I had a new neighbor anchored close to the waterway. When I came back to my boat he had about 9 friends tied to him. They were so close to my boat that I worried that we may bang into each other.

In the evening, I paddled to them and they invited me onboard to watch the parade. It was only fair since they were blocking my view. I was properly fed and boozed up, merry Xmas!

Boca Raton Intracoastal Chrismas Parade!