Surfing Our Way to Fort Pierce

Eau Gallie to Fort Pierce |  6.25 Hours  |  46 Miles 

What a difference a day makes. A cold front moved through overnight, leaving yesterday's sunshine and blue sky as a distant memory. We waited for an early morning shower to pass then started our departure checklist. The crab pots flanking us last night were all present and accounted for. Remembering the mass of vegetation that came up with our anchor on our last visit (Feb. 4, 2020), I was expecting the worst. Thankfully it came up with only a small bit of shells which were easily removed. The mud from the chain, however, left a mess on deck which had to be cleaned before I would consider my job done. The task was made messier with a 25-knot headwind that washed me down as well. At least it was still warm enough to be in short sleeves!

As we turned south into the Indian River with My Cat behind us, we noticed that their anchor had picked up all the seagrass I had expected to find. They were sporting a new green beard. We settled in and peered through raindrop-covered windows as the miles passed by. Small fishing boats zipped alongside us. There were too many dolphin to count. Grand estates lined the shore with landscaping that rivaled the architecture. It's funny how our eyes focus in on the same things year after year. We laughed upon spotting the same repurposed stop/slow sign as noted on our last trip. For much of our day we had a following sea, a 25-knot tailwind, and were running with the current. We made great time as we surfed down to Fort Pierce.

The sun never broke through the clouds, but the day did brighten enough to pull out the big camera and stalk a few pelicans. Following a long chat with Aunt B, Barry and I switched to math class and calculated the proper speed for a timely arrival at the 1:30 opening of the North Fort Pierce Bridge. The bridge tender gets a huge shout-out for her keen observation skills and hilarious comments about the boat traffic passing before her window. We followed our previous tracks into the anchorage and dropped our hook in the lee of the condos. A slow afternoon turned to dinner time. The surprise of the day was to see that the salon television was able to pick up a sporting event. It was a nice treat to watch Virginia beat Miami, before switching back to Law & Order SVU reruns.

Tomorrow's weather should be better than today. Our plan is to drop the dinghy and head into the town dock for lunch and a walk.