[Fr. Frank]

That was idiotic. I read once that Palm Beach County, Florida has 3 of the 10 most dangerous inlets in the continental US, and they are #6 Boynton Inlet, #9 Jupiter Inlet, & #10 Boca Raton Inlet. I believe it. To challenge these inlets in a small boat when they are running large is idiocy. To challenge them in a large boat is merely stupid.

The worst inlet around there is Boynton, which once swallowed (pooped) a 77' head boat - the original Two Georges - while I watched from offshore on another head boat - the 87' SeaMist III. I don't remember how many died. I do remember that 11 people survived. It was breaking about 20'-24' outside of Boynton that night. We on the SeaMistIII stayed out for 4 extra hours waiting for seas to subside as forecast before deciding to run slowly north to Lake Worth Inlet in 9-15 seas. Lake Worth was breaking 18'-20', but without the cross currents, and we didn't have to turn broadside to the seas to get in, as you had to at Boynton that night. I was the Mate on the SeaMist. We had 32 people on board, and 30 of them were seasick, including the Captain. For the record, seas were 8'-12' when we went out at 7 pm and forecast to subside to 6'-9' by 11 pm when we were due to return.


I began running Boynton, Boca Raton and Lake Worth Inlets when I was 10 years old, in a 12' Sears fiberglass semi-V with a 9.9 Chrysler outboard, and later in a 16' Whaler. they were the dinghy to my grandfather's 42' Rybovich. I have seen more than one wrecked boat washed up on the beach because people ignored basic seamanship and common sense.

also FYI, the original wooden Two Georges was refloated, and eventually put back in service. I don't know what happened to it after the mid 1980's. BTW, the owner's name was - George. His daughter was named, you guessed it - Georgette.
Guess he like the name.