Fort Pierce and Special People

 We left early from Peck Lake hoping to avoid all the holiday traffic on the water.  So many boaters who just cannot help themselves but need to show off just how big a wake they can make and how close the can cut in front of us.  Ugh.  

None were as bad as the sport fishing boat we encountered about 30 miles offshore that our radar warned us of imminent collision and we altered our course.  As a sailing vessel with sails raised, we have the right of way.  This particular boat's captain had his auto pilot on and had left the helm.  Why?  I'm sure he is still unaware how close he came to a disaster.  Idiot!  (The name of his vessel - The Big E - just in case the name pops up on your AIS!)

Anyway, it was a beautiful sunrise and the water was super calm.


There was absolutely no wind to either cool us off or entice us to try to raise our sails.  Oh well.  A smooth ride allowed us to arrive in Fort Pierce quicker than we had thought. 

 After a quick lunch we headed to Fort Pierce City Marina dinghy dock.  

                                    We found a great spot to anchor without to much difficulty.
                        
                                        

With the wind at our backs, we made quick time back across the ICW to the marina.  Yup the wind arrived after we anchored!


We grabbed gas for the dinghy and went to explore downtown.  








Very cute, clean and lots of historic feeling but few people out and wandering in the heat.  We enjoyed an iced coffee before ubering to the grocery store.
We were both excited to see fresh produce at "reasonable" prices!  We bought way more than we intended but not more than we could carry back to the boat.  (No crowds here either.)

By the time we ubered back to the marina, the skies looked ominous.

                                        The tiki boat that tried to run us off the "road" twice!

We drove back against the wind and current managing to get soaked and requiring pumping water out of the dinghy as we steered back to Quiet Time.  Oops.  We probably should not have dawdled over coffee.

Once we arrived back on the boat and looked back towards the marina, we could see the storm front headed our way.


                                                     The view to the east was quite different.


                        We watched the storm for awhile with lightning striking all around us.  

Happy belated birthday to Isis!  I am so glad you are joining chaos household!




Happy Birthday Peter!  30?!?  Your smile is awesome and we hope to see many more!




And Congratulations Marc and Molly!  Super excited for you guys!

                                                    (My baby brother is getting married!)


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Driving Rain and Left Side Road

Image
 Today found us with lots of cloud and lots of rain.  We snuck in a fast soak in the jacuzzi this morning before our last trip to the grocery store.  A bit of fresh fruit (no fresh foods can be brought back into the states) and enough flour to continue my bread making.  We watched the downpour from the game room where I have yet to beat Paul at pool.  The closest I came was so close... Paul won after I left him this shot! The wet made getting on and off the boat a bit tricky.  During high tides, the boat is about 3 feet above the dock and 3 feet away.  Low tide 3 feet too low.  Normally Paul or I pull the boat closer and climb up or down.  Today I thankfully grabbed his hand before jumping - I slid across the wet dock and would have joined the fish on the other side!  Ugh.  No blood only a small bruise to my shin.  No jumping when wet! Our driving experience here in The Grand Bahamas. The signs:        ...
Read more

Happy (Belated) Birthday Rebecca!

Image
 I hope your day yesterday was everything a birthday should be at 23!  We love you and are happy you are part of chaos household!  💖  I apologize for being a day late!   Today we had some success and some failures.   Successes = trip to church with donate, dump with garbage and trash, lumber yard for one board needed for the bathroom, washer works well and it was warm enough to dry two loads on the dog run, sanding in bathroom is complete, walls all have second coat, dinner was great (Paul cooked) and tonight we sleep on bed sheets dried in the fresh air! Failures = the dryer is broke (I tried to dry the blankets thinking they would never dry in the cooler air), and the closeline Paul tried to hang is too stretchy (better line ordered). While in town we saw this van (also dropping off donates): And it is World Gratitude Day. People I love:  so many, here are a few:                   ...
Read more

Ocean Reef Yacht Resort, Freeport, Bahamas

Image
 It was such an amazing day I don't even know where to start.  After getting all set on the dock last night, talking about our crossing (and our mistakes) and waiting for the adrenaline to subside, we finally fell into bed at 2am. Although the crossing did not go as planned, I am still ecstatic to be here!  The West End is merely a stopping point to check in.  There is a gift shop (with little to no stock), a man selling conch salad, a beach with 2 people, the customs office and marina office.  That's it.  We walked the area in just a few  minutes. The channel out was just as narrow as I remembered .  How we maneuvered in the night - I don't know. As soon as we hit deeper water - 2 sea turtles!  One seemed to pose for the camera but I still couldn't capture him.  So cool! And lo and behold - the wind and seas were favorable!  We raised the sails, turned off the engines and sailed to our destination.  A glorious ride at 6-9 knot...
Read more