Ft. Pierce

 

We left Melbourne Beach on an overcast morning. Maureen and Jimmy escorted us through the maze of mangrove canals and out to the channel. Not ten minutes after they left us the skies opened up. It rained pretty much all day, but it was still 75deg, so it wasn't uncomfortable. We arrived in Faber Cove, Ft. Pierce pretty soggy, but it was a great little anchorage. The next day we took our bikes to shore. Our bicycles are probably one of our most important purchases we made for this trip. It is such a great way to explore a town, not to mention re-provision and do laundry. We joined a few fellow cruisers for a walk on the beach and a happy hour drink, then we had a quick visit from a friend from home. George was delivering a boat (by trailer) to Florida and met us for dinner on his way home. We love having visitors from home, so anybody reading this...come on down!

We really did have a lot of fun in Ft. Pierce. We were there almost a week and we squeezed a lot in despite a few rainy days. We also met some great people. Tim and Bill from Chicago are two that I'm sure we will see again somewhere along the line. We spent a few happy hours together and that was all it took to become fast friends. They also took us to dinner and aboard this really awesome 76' yacht. But that's not why we like them, they were just two regular (and funny) guys.

While in Ft. Pierce we also walked, rode bikes a lot, got a few zippers fixed on our enclosure, helped another cruiser fix his outboard, shared our fresh fish with 2 teenage boys who sailed from Toronto and took a tour around Hutchinson Island with Malcolm, the dock master at a nearby marina. We wrapped up our week there with laundry, provisioning and one last happy hour with the guys.

Oh my gosh, I almost forgot the most exciting part of our stay in Ft. Pierce....my sea bean! I believe it floated all the way from Africa! We also found a sea urchin shell and nickernuts (the little gray marble looking ones)!

When we left Thursday morning, Brrrrr....it was 47 degrees! The sun came out though and it warmed up to 70. After 48 miles and 7 bridge openings we anchored in Lake Worth, Palm Beach for the night and enjoyed our turkey chicken dinner with all the trimmings. It may not have been our traditional Thanksgiving, but the spirit of the holiday was not lost on us. Not only on this holiday, but daily we are reminded how much we have to be thankful for. Especially our super-supportive family and friends who we miss so much! I hope everyone had a Thanksgiving as wonderful as ours!

PS -  Mom, if you are keeping track, we got in 2 strangers cars this week!

Love, Jen & Bud