It was cooler than usual on the morning we left the dock in North Palm Beach, Florida, for a run on the Beneteau Antares 9. The chilly snap in the air reminded me that pilothouse designs like this one are not just for people near my home in the Northeast. Boaters in the Sunshine State also appreciate an enclosed deck for the warmth and protection it provides.
The windows on the Beneteau offered us big views of the Intracoastal Waterway as we bombed our way toward Fort Worth Inlet. The throttles were close to wide-open as the skipper, Ken Moore, demonstrated what the boat could do.
I was aboard to learn more about the new Beneteau for a report I’d write for the magazine. For that reason, I was focused on crawling around the boat, making notes and taking photos. At the same time, I was doing a poor job of appreciating where we were. Fortunately, Moore got me out of my own head.
“There’s Peanut Island,” he said, pointing just ahead. “You know about that place, right?”
Well, I didn’t know very much, so I took a seat opposite his helm chair and he gave me the short story.
The island didn’t exist until 1918, when the area was dredged to create Lake Worth Inlet and the Port of Palm Beach—an effort that was supervised by the same guy who engineered the Panama Canal. Peanut Island was constructed from the excavated materials and served as a spoil site for the maintenance of the inlet. Essentially, the island started out as landfill, but it became so much more.
In the 1990s, the Port Authority began transforming the island into a public park. Over the years, it’s expanded to include hiking trails, a campground, a man-made reef system and 30 acres of wildlife habitat. Today, the island stretches 79-acres across the ICW.
“It’s one of the most popular stops for sandbar boats in the area,” said Moore.
Moore ran at an easy cruising speed around the island so our crew could get a better look at the place that housed the bunker built for President John F. Kennedy and his family during the Cuban Missile Crisis. It’s also home to the historic Lake Worth Inlet Coast Guard Station, a structure built in 1936 that served as a base for search and rescue operations during WWII.
“There’s a lot of history here,” said Moore.
I was grateful for the effort he made to share what he knew about the area, and to redirect the attention of this distracted passenger. The experience was a reminder for me to be more present, particularly on a boat, where there is so much opportunity to see new things and connect with people.
Jeanne Craig
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June 2025
