Thursday January 21st 2011

We are in Miami!!! But before I tell you about that, let me tell you about some of the interesting things we did in Fort Pierce to help pass the time, while we waited for some good sailing conditions.

We were not the only boat waiting it out. The boat next to us, a Benetau 411, was owned by a couple from Port Aransas, Texas, Howell and Jo. He is a retired sales rep, and she is a retired school teacher, after 31 years!! They have two sons, also!

There was also a catamaran from Bellingham. Yes, Washington! Talk about a roomy boat! I’m jealous of all the space, but I wouldn’t want to dock the thing. It is owned by Cort and Carolyn. He is an architect in LaConner.
Dave loved having some guys around to discuss the weather, radios, charts, repairs, etc. He gained some wonderful information, and I’m sure he gave out some, as well. If he disappeared for 20-30 minutes, I knew he was out on the dock talking with one, or both of them.

On the first Friday of the month, Howell and Jo invited us to go with them to Jazz night, at the city marina park. There was music, food, venders, and beer. We walked around the park, looking at all of the “trinkets” for sale, and had a couple of beers, then sat on the seawall and listened to music. It was a little nippy out, so we decided to go somewhere warm for dinner, and found a restaurant close by. We had a great meal, and learned more about our new friends.

The next morning, we set off again with Howell and Jo, for the farmer’s market, held every Saturday, at the same venue as the Jazz night. This time, there were twice as many venders; some with trinkets and some with produce or baked goods. They also had music, which we sat and listened to for quite awhile. Then it was time for lunch, so we piled in the car and found a restaurant called “Captain’s Galley”. It seemed appropriate, so we stopped. The food was great, the prices were low, and we really enjoyed the company we were with.

Fort Pierce is so close to Vero Beach, about 12 miles, so we took advantage of that and went to the marina’s Thursday night happy hour every week. It was fun to see some old friends and meet some new. Howell and Jo went with us to the last one. The wind was blowing, and it was a bit cold, but we had a great time, and were the last ones to leave. We gave them a quick tour of the beach area, and then had dinner at the Riverside Café.

We also had a little football fun while in FP. We had dinner with “the gang”, at the marina restaurant, and then watched Oregon and Auburn in the BCS championship. We really thought Oregon would dominate the game, but Auburn’s defense was just too good. At half-time, the restaurant was closing, so we moved down to the cruiser’s lounge for the second half. It’s pretty comfy in there: nice poofy couches and chairs, a big screen TV, a library and reading area, game table, etc. It was late when we headed back to the boat, but we had a great time watching it.

The Seahawks vs. New Orleans was another game we really enjoyed. Who would have thought that the hawks would come away with a win. We were so excited to see them play Chicago, but it seemed like the old Seahawk team, not the one from the week before! We met up with the gang, again, at the marina restaurant, and watched on their big screen TV.

We will always remember watching the Steelers play the Ravens. We were attending the 5th annual Chili Cook Off, at the marina. I decided it might be fun to enter the contest, with my daughter-in-law, Jacinda’s great recipe. So, I made a huge pot of chili, and took it to the contest. There were 10 entries, and we tried to sample them all, and then everyone voted for the best one. While we ate, we were serenaded by a father on guitar, and his daughter on keyboard. They were really good!! The other entertainment was the play-off game, on a small little TV in the opposite corner. Those attending the cook off, were all cruisers or marina liveaboards, but they are from all over the USA, so it was fun to experience watching a football game with them. One woman was a New England Patriot’s fan, who desperately wanted Pittsburgh to win, so the Pat’s would not have to play the Ravens. She was a real hoot!

After the votes were tallied, Jacinda’s chili did not win the prize, but it did get lots of compliments. Dave and I thought it was hands down, the very best, but we may be a bit prejudiced.

Fort Pierce is known for its large population of manatees. We did not see any for the longest time! Then finally, we saw five of them, under and around the docks. What a strange creature they are! And very friendly. If you are swimming, they will come right up to you and rub against you. But, because they are so docile, they do not know to be afraid of boats. Many of them have cut marks on their backs from boat propellers. Many of them are killed every year by boats, and lately because of the cold water. Poor manatees!

On one of our last nights in FP, the gang got together for one last dinner at the restaurant. We had a few extra people with us: Cort and Carolyn had friends from Sedro Wooley, Washington, visiting them; and another British couple on another catamaran joined us, Richard and Marie. We had a wonderful time swapping tales and eating seafood. Howell, Jo, and the Brits, will be leaving for the Abacos, while the rest of the gang will be heading to Miami.

And so, on Wednesday the 19th, Dave and I said our good byes to Howell and Jo, and sailed off for an overnight trip to Miami. It was cloudy when we left, but by the time we got 3 miles offshore, the sun was shining bright. We motor sailed all day and into the early morning hours, with a nice breeze from the West. When night fell, a beautiful full moon lit up the sky, and the water was calm as could be. We started having trouble maintaining our speed, and realized that we were bucking the gulf stream current. Dave decided we should move closer inland. That helped a lot.
In the morning, when we reached Miami, the water was so clear, you could see the fish swimming below. It was a beautiful sunny day, that topped out at 82. After finding our mooring ball, and trying to get a little more sleep, we headed into shore for a shower. Boy, did that feel good. After that, we walked over to “Scottie’s” restaurant, right on the water, and had nachos and beer, and watched for Cort’s catamaran, “Celise Spirit”, to arrive. When we were done, we realized that there were clouds gathering, and that we might be about to get a thunderstorm, so we opted to head for the boat. It was a good thing we did. It takes about 10-15 minutes to get from the marina dock to the boat in the mooring field. Shortly after we arrived at the boat, and just as “Celise Spirit” entered the harbor, the heavens opened up and the rain poured down. We spent a quiet evening, hunkered down in the boat, as we were both pretty tired after our night offshore.

Today is another beautiful day, though a little windy. Too rough to cross to the Bahamas. We will most likely be here for at least 5-7 days, waiting for just the right conditions to cross over. It will take us about 12 hours, so we will leave in the early morning hours, to arrive there in the late afternoon. Keep your fingers crossed, that we will not end up here for several weeks, waiting for weather.

Hope all is fine back home. We miss you all. We are having a great time, but it is difficult to be away from home so long. It seems like our time is standing still, and the rest of the world is going on without us.

Take care and stay healthy. Send us an email when you can. DO NOT CALL. The charges in the Bahamas are outrageous!! Only call if it is an emergency. Email is your best bet, but if you don’t get a reply right away, it means we are in some small tropical bay where they don’t have Wifi. When we get to a destination that has Wifi, we will get back to you.

Love and Hugs,

The Admiral