Today -
MEE-AM-MEE!!! That would be local for "Miami"... we are here! The weather looked promising, so we motored southward from Vero Beach down the ICW to the nearest inlet to the Atlantic, Ft. Pierce Inlet. Side note - Pierce is my grandmother's maiden name, but I'm sure she wasn't a FL sailor! Ft Pierce inlet has max ebb current of about 3.5 kts, always producing a "rage" of or waves vs current. So, we carefully timed our departure to catch slack current. Anyway, the ICW was calm, the inlet was good, and the ocean was a mess. Higher waves, higher wind, etc, than predicted. Not dangerous, just not fun. Having not generated our sea legs at all this year, we both got a little queasy and I got downright seasick. I held off until 3 a.m. but by then, nature took her course. I felt better after throwing up, but not a lot! The seas had calmed by then, but I was already too seasick to make a difference. Onward we motored, into the big, busy Government Cut, the port for the big cruise ships, container ships, and small sailboats. It was busy, even at 5 a.m. We carefully took our place in line in the channel into the inlet, along with a cruise ship, 2 container ships, a barge-ish thing, and something else, it seems. A quick turn to "port" (the left side of a ship) and we were in our highly anticipated anchorage for the night. Luke did a great job of getting us into the busy inlet and setting us up for me to drop the anchor. Straight to bed, even though we had taken turns during the night, the sleep is never enough or good. Sweet Smoke just resigned herself after we got into the ocean swells, howling her disapproval only a couple of times. She settled down on a cushion, harnessed and leashed to the boat, and pouted the entire 17 hours of ocean time. She is sleeping even now- it must take a LOT of sleep for a cat to catch up!
Miami - home of beautiful dwellings sitting just across from the container ship docks.
And, of course, the high-rises.
Ange and Ray got to Latitudes on Thursday for a wonderful visit. We picked them up at the dock and motored northward, up the ICW for a few hours of R&R. It is always great to see them.
Luke and Ray -
Bobbie and Ange -
Last Tuesday's old blog, preiously unpublished----
Sorry, I have been SO bad about blogging --- I can't believe how long it's been and how busy we've been.
We are still in Vero Beach; probably leaving on Thursday to head for Lake Worth for the night, en route to Miami to stage the crossing to Bimini.
Lots of chores that we did - replace the GPS, replace the tachometer, change the diesel filters, check and clean the water filters, fix the copper radio ground plane, provision the groceries, laundry, pick up parts and bits and pieces, etc. Fortunately for us, we have 2 fun diversions! First, seeing Roanoke friends Ali and Charlie.
Here we all are, sitting at the marina in their park community. Lovely place - good thing there were no winter cottages for sale that were nearly as attractive as theirs!
Tomorrow, we'll see friends Ange and Ray!
Still waiting for one part and repair job, but hopefully, we'll be on our way soon and I will be blogging with regularity. Maybe even some "beautiful places" pictures!
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Story complete for now - we coveted reservations at Dinner Key Marina, the marina where Luke waited last year when I returned to Charlotte to be with my dad. It's the busiest season for transient boaters, and we were lucky to get a mooring ball. Next, sight seeing in Cocoa Beach!
Weather-wise, it looks like we will be here for as long as a week. We are both ready to get to the Bahamas!
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