Started day: mile marker 951
Ended day: mile marker 966
We had a great time in Vero Beach but we were ready to move on to a new anchorage. We pulled anchor and said goodbye to our mooring neighbors, Symbiose, at around 9:30 on Wednesday. It was a very calm day with little wind so we just motored south. We noticed the really blue water as we entered the Fort Pierce area so we grabbed an anchorage just south of the Fort Pierce Inlet (and bridge), across the ICW from the City Marina. Happy to be settled by 12:30 to enjoy the anchorage the rest of the day.
Once anchored Stew immediately jumped into the blue water. It was fabulous and we both had fun swimming. The winds picked up a bit and we were swinging toward another boat that didn’t seem to be swinging the same way… the fact that boats all swing the same way is why close anchorages work. Well, this boat was not cooperating. Christian (S/V Uinen), the boat owner, soon surfaced and we chatted with him as he sat on his bow railing. His boat doesn’t swing because of his full keel. At some point we all felt uncomfortable about being so close (just inches from hitting each other) and pulled up anchorage and moved a bit closer to the shallow water.
The next day (Dec 9th, Thursday) we did a little work, I defrosted the fridge and Stew worked on getting the barnacles off Pete the dinghy. We did some fishing and swimming and just enjoyed ourselves. I even had a chance to get Izzy the SUP out and do some paddle boarding finally!
We started the day (Dec 10th, Friday) by making water for the first time! It was so exciting. We made lots of mess as we were trying to figure everything out. But the mess was worth it as we had fresh water for everything. Stew did a freshwater rinse of everything up top, and we filled some buckets for washing and rinsing clothes and a few towels. Plus, we now had no reservation taking a “Navy” shower that evening (which was awesome). We have pictures in an upcoming blog that shows how we make water…. We were so engrossed in the process we did not take any pictures.
While we were making water (which took about 3.5 hours this first time) I made chili with tofu crumble and vegetables in the thermal pot, it tuned out great. This is a wonderful way to create four meals (8 servings) in one dish.
Stew worked on polishing the chrome items and just relaxing on deck.
The morning (Dec 11th, Saturday) was beautiful and I was just enjoying a cup of my Dandy blend when an anchor neighbor pulled their dinghy up to see if we wanted anything from the Farmers Market. Every Saturday the Historic town of Fort Pierce has a market (actually a VERY BIG one). So I quickly woke Stew up and we headed out for shore. We completely misunderstood where to go and spent over an hour on the wrong shore of the river! Once we figured out we needed to cross the ICW (which was further than we anticipated going) we found the market. They even had gluten free, nut free, honey free baked goods which we purchased along with some produce.
Our trip over had been pretty calm and flat but the wind had picked up and it was rough, rough, rough going back over. I basically got completely soaked – even my sneakers had puddles in them.
We went the rest of the day fishing, swimming paddle boarding and napping (hard life, right?).
