St. Augustine to Fort Pierce | 27.5 Hours | 180 Miles
On my third sunrise in St. Augustine, I managed to catch a few shots of the lighthouse's beam. It was a challenge as I was shooting handheld on a moving boat, but these pictures are good enough for the blog.
The Bridge of Lions does not open at 8:00, so we had a little extra time on our hands. For much of our wait, I just sat outside and enjoyed the warm morning. An osprey was perched atop the sailboat next to us. At 8:20 we dropped the lines holding us to the mooring and got in line for the 8:30 bridge opening. A short distance later we were being flushed out of the inlet by an ebb current. At one point, we saw 10.3 on our knot meter. For us, that's flying. We turned south and caught a final glimpse of the full lighthouse as we passed abeam of it.
We settled into our watch schedule. Barry went below to make plans and reservations for our next week of travel. I took the helm and had an easy time as Otto, the autopilot, kept us on the same heading for 14 hours. There was little traffic and the waves were low, but choppy. The water began to take on a most welcome lighter and brighter shade of blue. Just before midnight, we reached our waypoint of Cape Canaveral and proceeded to make a turn back to the southwest and Fort Pierce. Our night passed quickly with only one tug and four cruise ships in the area. I was on watch as the sun peeked over the scarlet red horizon.
As morning progressed, the red faded to orange and then to an overcast gray. By 10:00 beachfront development was growing larger on the horizon. We entered Fort Pierce inlet and spotted Unteathered, the Selene sistership of friends Richard and Kelly.
Before we anchored, we took Crossroads to the fuel dock to top off the tanks one last time before crossing to The Bahamas. After fueling, we claimed a spot in the familiar anchorage. Joining us there were swarms of lovebugs. Other than the tandem flying nuisances, it was a perfectly beautiful afternoon. I got in a little reading and napping on Fiberglass Beach while also soaking up some sun. Richard and Kelly later picked us up in their dinghy and showed us a few of their favorite spots -- Little Jim Bait & Tackle for drinks and 12A Buoy for dinner. My yellow snapper was both beautiful and delicious. Dropped off at Crossroads, we hurriedly worked on a few chores before calling it a night. We'll stay in Fort Pierce a few more days to explore the area.
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