back up a few miles and hang out in north
lake worth. after passing marker 28 on your port, look for marker 1 leading off towards the northeast and into old port cove. as you go deeper in you'll see a small fleet of sailboats hanging out waiting for
weather to cross or still loading supplies.
anchor at the north end of the lake and use your
dinghy to go up the small stream that is crossed by a small bridge. you'll probably see dinghy's tied up there. tie up yourself and walk down the block to the
shopping center (big publix supermarket). stop by to say hello to other boats in the anchorage waiting to cross. you'll meet them again in the abacos. last year we had ten cruisers around our
salon table talking sailing and cruising. some even brought snacks.
as to crossing, it really is better going further south. if going to west end,
fort lauderdale isn't a bad jumping off spot but there are precious few places to
anchor there while waiting on
weather. biscayne bay and that vicinity has many more waiting places, and is a better start if you're going to
bimini. we crossed to the abacos from lake worth this summer but made our entry at memory rock; we didn't actually clear
customs till we got to green turtle cay. and we had to do more motoring during the crossing than i had wanted to. but once you're at memory rock you're in shallow
water the rest of the time you're in the abacos so you can literally anchor anywhere.
and whatever you do, don't go unless you're totally satisfied with the weather report.