Trip through the Tongue of the Ocean was uneventful
except for a few crazy fisherman. One came on our beam and turned
within a couple of hundred yards us No he didn't use the VHF. We
decided to anchor off of Northwest Light so that our approach through
Fort Perce would be in the morning rather than chasing the sunset. We
anchored several miles north of a fishing mother ship where we watched
the small boats come and go. Interesting.
The next night before the sun set, we passed the
Great Issac Light, northwest edge of the Great Bahamas Bank. When we
passed, the light was not working. Crossing the Florida Strait (aka
Gulf Stream) was uneventful as winds were light and favorable and the
engine worked only a bit. Watches were our normal 3 hours on and 3 off
during the night.
We entered the Ft. Pierce inlet around 1100 today with
little chop in the inlet. We doused the jib but kept the mizzen up
through the inlet. Lots of current but with us. USCG decided to pull
us over with mizzen up and current pushing us to the tuning basin. Nice
guys but we were stopped less than 3 months ago in North Carolina.
Apparently they were looking for drugs so our last stop did not
influence them. They were polite and thorough and they allowed us to
drop our sail before they boarded.
A few hours later, we arrived in VB and took mooring
ball #8, our first mooring in 2002. It is a little less populated
compared to when we left about a month ago. Many of the same boats were
still here. This night we were blessed with a rare view of the SR 60
bridge. Perfect blue sky with most of the bridge lights working. Not a
bad 'welcome home'.
Another week in Vero means another Happy Hour. Still a
good crowd here. There are a couple of us talking about heading north
but the weather will be unstable from Canaveral north for a while. We
saw a couple of the Boat Harbour crowd who came to visit for Happy
Hour. This should be are last HH this season in Vero.
Sammy Jane wants to know when we are leaving.
She is tired of Vero and wants to starting heading fo ILM. Endaxi is rafted with us but will have to wait a a day or more to leave as there new (actually old) water pump is failing. We hope to see them on the way back up.
;
