Fog finally burned off and we departed Vero Beach......uneventful day and wound up stopping in Fort Pierce, Florida. Very nice marina. All new and rebuilt after hurricaine Francis in 2004. Yes, 2004. It's a city marina. They're not in much of a hurry, i guess.
They did have a nice tiki bar and we had a late lunch and a few adult beverages......not knowing what time it was made the bill larger than the usual happy hour/early bird bill. Live and learn. Maybe I should buy a watch? We did manage to get through the night without being murdered or robbed. That is apparently a rare event in Fort Pierce. Feelin' good about that.....
No morning fog meant an early departure. Very nice day. Didn't hit any icebergs, but it wasn't because Florida/the army corp of engineers made it easy. The channel between Fort Pierce and Stuart is iffy at best. Very narrow. And, as we're going the wrong way....all other boats are heading north whilst we're heading south......we seem to be the odd boat out.........but.... nobody died....or wrecked their boats.....
Got to Stuart and what is called the Crossroads......the intersection of the ICW (north and south), the St Lucie River and the St Lucie inlet (Ocean inlet). We reached it just before high tide, so there was lots of water. But the water was moving 4 kts with the tide. We decided to duck into a marina as the boat traffic was crazy busy with tour boats, paddle wheelers and fishing boats. Just like aloha Friday, but with (hopefully) less alcohol involved. To get to the marina we had to go through Hells Gate. (Really. Look it up.) With the tide. And current. And crazy boaters. But, we only touched bottom once. Fortunately we were able to power through it. Probably wouldn't have been an issue to run aground as we passed two (TWO?) tow boat U.S. boats in the next mile. In bad areas both tow boat US and Sea Tow just sit in their boats and wait. Very reassuring if you're in trouble. Also, you're almost assured to get in trouble, that's why they are sitting there and waiting. Good? Bad? Well, you decide.
Anyway, tied to the dock with a most excellent pool, bar and grill. Food was most tasty and better yet cheap. A good place to hang and relax. But, we're at the crossroads. We can go west, to Okeechobee, South to Miami the keys, east to the Bahamas or North, back where we came from. Nobody with brains boat the ICW on a weekend, so we're going to sit by the pool and evaluate our options this week.
We'll get back to you soon.....
Photos....
Dinner at Melbourne Charthouse. A nice view of the channel entering the harbor. We only saw one boat run aground. Pretty good day I suppose.....
But the sunset was most excellent.......
Dolphins on the way to Vero.....
Vero pool.....
Docked in Vero in the Cheap seats with the dinghies from the big boats....
Morning fog in Vero.....worst fog I've seen in Florida.....
Gave way to afternoon sun and Tiki Bar in Fort Pierce......
Where we opted out of green beer, but did go with the fish tacos and a Cuban....
Sunset wasn't bad......
And pool drinks at the yacht club can't be beat!
S
Very nice photos. Please post more before cinco de mayo.
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