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| Since my last post, we have travelled from St-Augustine to Fort Pierce, with a few days on a mooring ball in Vero Beach Florida. |
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| The weather has been very warm/humid and mostly overcast with several major downpours. I'm not complaining..although I do look forward to a steadier sunny forecast in the near future. As with many bridges in Florida, some are just too low for our masts to pass. As we approach, Guy calls the bridge operator on our marine vhf...... channel 9 and within a few minutes, we safely get to the other side. |
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| Underway in the intercoastal headed for Vero Beach F. |
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| One of many markers in the shallow intercoastal that prevent us from running aground. At low tide we have often seen a depth of 6.5 feet on our vessel's depth meter. We draw 6 ft or maybe more since our Sam's Club shopping spree for provisions to last till the end of March as prices in the Bahamas are 15 % higher or they simply do not have the item you want..... 650.00 worth of staples and beverages.....no fresh produce.......... Guy is still in shock..... |
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| A dramatic sky and calm waters as we motor on.......looks like a great place to go sailing if we had some wind. The depth outside of the ICW channel is only 3 or 4 ft! Very deceptive. Read your charts and watch for the buoys. |
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| Since leaving St Augustine last week, we have been traveling with George and Jackie of SV Heritage. We will likely make the crossing over to the Bahamas in the next few weeks in their company as well. There may be quite the floatila since the weather has been so bad. Lots of backlog waiting to cross. There could be between 10 and 30 leave when we leave. Even though there is a bit of comfort in knowing others are around, you still are sailing alone. |
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| SV Heritage is a well equipped 35 foot Niagara |
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| All bridges have similar signs marking the clearance of bridges at different tide cycles. Most fixed bridges have a 65 foot clearance at low tide. I talked with a captain in Green Cove Springs that just bought a 47ft boat. He loves the boat but his mast is 63 ft high. He said he whacked a few bridges on the passage South. Broke his masthead light and instruments. Very expensive. Plus he has a 7ft draft. Things to remember when you buy a boat. "What do you want to do with it?" He won't enjoy the ride as much as on a smaller boat since his 'to do list' is huge. Every job is so much bigger on a bigger boat...not to mention much more expensive. My feeling is that he will not go anywhere since his funds are limited so he is the only worker. Boat jobs take twice as long as you estimate. |
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| Here we pass under twin fixed bridges. |
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| Happy to see these guys again this year....... |
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| There are some spectacular mansions and communities to see as we move along the intercoastal to reach Vero Beach by 1700 hrs. It took us 9 hours at an average speed of 6 to 8 kts from an anchorage in Cape Canaveral. |
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| It was not long after we arrived in Vero that we were tied to a mooring ball and having a cold beer. |
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| We are quickly greeted by a friendly dolphin.... |
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| The many boats in the mooring field at Vero |
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| The next morning, Guy lowers our dinghy into the water for the first time this year. He is really happy that our little yamaha outboard started right up......This place has a free bus that comes around every hour and takes us to shopping....groceries, west marine, a mall etc. etc. |
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| This is our day time view from the cockpit |
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| This is our night time view..... |
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| I winched Guy to the top of the mast to check our instruments and to pull our halyards at the top down to the deck. Once all the halyards were in place on deck and in the rope clutches the Main, Jib and Staysail sails went up......... |
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| We are cruising in U.S. waters. A courtesy U.S flag is required. |
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| Sometimes when the mooring field gets filed up and boats are still needing a place, the marina assigns them a boat to raft off with. Here a 1960, 37 foot all wood sail boat named Gabriel from Maine rafts off of Miss Ellie. We enjoyed meeting Barry and Sue. He just retired and they are finally starting their cruising life. Gabriel is a real head turner. Classically beautiful and lovingly maintained. Varnishing becomes an art form on a boat like Gabriel |
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| After a three hour sail from Vero to Fort Pierce, we arrive at Fort Pierce City Marina where we will stay a few days to attend to some equipment that is acting up....The more equipment you have...the more you have to break and maintain. Fixing stuff in the US is cheaper and easier than in the Bahamas. So we won't leave until we are ready. |
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| Our view from the cockpit in Fort Pierce |
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| Right next to the marina is a great farmers market on Saturdays...Time for a fresh fruit smoothie |
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| The "Movember Moustache" is coming along.....(Hummm... Guy, is it just me or is your moustache " a lighter shade than it had last year" ? LOL.... |
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| After the market, we went to this huge place....it was mind boggling |
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| Some of the many many boat items for sale |
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| Dock lines anyone? |
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| After walking around in awe at the size of the place, we left with 2 zincs for the shaft..... |
The forecast for the next few days call for Gale force winds so we will stay here till the front passes and then make our way to Stuart Florida where we are planning to have a U.S. Thanksgiving get together with fellow boaters on Thursday the 28th.
