We are now back at our dock in Ft. Pierce. It's calm here at the marina, but the Atlantic seas outside the Ft. Pierce inlet are far from calm. This is surfing country and, on our beach walk yesterday, we watched with envy as lines of surfers waited for that perfect wave to carry them triumphantly into the beach. Bill and I enjoyed surfing many years ago in Cape Town. Could we get back into 'the scene'? Maybe not!
Since I last wrote we've spent almost a week at a mooring in Ft. Lauderdale. We bought ourselves some beach chairs and would walk over to the beach late each afternoon and swim in the silky, warm ocean. We caught the bus into the town, and also took the water-taxi excursion to 'Hollywood'- just six miles south of Ft. Pierce.
We had heard that Hollywood was very different from the busy metropolis of Lauderdale. With very few high rise buildings, and millions spent on a spectacular, miles long 'Broadwalk' along the beach, it was rated as being definitely worth a look. Well, one look was enough for us! Yes, there is a spectacular and very busy beach fringed by a beautiful brick pathway and restaurants, but it doesn't quite make it! So we had a good lunch at 'Georgios' restaurant on the ICW, and were very pleased we did our Hollywood research by water taxi, rather than bringing 'Southern Vectis' down to find a dock there.
The weather had become unsettled and thundery by the time we decided to move north to Lake Worth and Palm Beach, so we decided to brave the 18 bridges on the ICW rather than getting caught in a storm going outside. It's a long trip - about 10 hours of trying to catch, and sometimes missing, 18 bridge-opening times. We made it finally to our usual anchorage in Old Palm Cove at the north end of the Lake Worth. We had planned to shop for food the next day, but this was not to be. The forecast was for 6-10 knot winds. That day we had 30 - 32 knot winds which whipped up the water so much that, unless you wanted to get soaked, going ashore on the dinghy was not an option. So we, and the other boats at anchor, waited it out until the following day, when the weather forecast for a calm day came true!
After three days at anchor, we made the decision to move straight on to Ft. Pierce and our 'home base' of Harbortown Marina. We looked forward to being tied up snugly to a dock, to enjoying the swimming pool, our car and, of course, the 'Harbor Cove' waterfront Tiki Bar. So here we are. We have met up with Mike, our musical friend from the Bahamas and Key West, and also with Al and Maggie, who were also here in January. Each day more boats are coming in, either on their way north, or to be hauled out for the summer. We've driven north to Vero Beach, and plan to drive south to the lovely town of Stuart. There's lots to do and see. This morning we went to the downtown Farmer's Market, and this evening there is a Boaters' Pot Luck Supper. We'll have an evening out with Fruji and John, joint grandparents of Leo, Orson and Simon, on Tuesday. We are not sure when we'll set off to drive home up the east coast. At the moment we are happy to be enjoying life in the sun.
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