Slow Boat to Stuart

 Monday, January 4, 2021 Day 30.

Up early. My sleep was interrupted several times with the noise of the boat against the anchor (Roland said it was due to the tide shift without wind), and the sound of the waves slapping against the hull. The anchor sound reminded me of chains in a haunted house, combined with the slapping wave sound which made me feel as if I were living in an aquarium; very weird. We left our anchorage at 8:05 AM, and there was no milk for my latte. I should’ve had an espresso. No sleep and no coffee!

The wind was behind us from the southeast, so it was a smooth ride and the sun glare was less difficult. The homes were passing on the ICW were a little poshier than earlier. There was also a significant amount of lovely foliage which enhanced the beauty of the ride. Here, the ICW was a little wider and a little deeper, so steering was not that stressful. We were on the Indian River approaching Palm Shores at 10:35 AM. We slowed down (reduced our RPMs), to increase the fuel efficiency.

The day was lovely, so we went up to the flybridge. It was beautiful. The wind was at our back; so comfortable. There were very few boats around which was a stark contrast from the weekend. It was open and quiet and sunny and beautiful, steering from the top: the birds, the dolphins, the scenery, the sun. Just wonderful. At the height of decadence, on the flybridge, while I as steering, Roland, for lunch, grilled my world famous turkey burgers that I had made previously.

After lunch, we passed several small, recreational, boats fishing only with nets. Curious: their haul, maybe shrimp, or bait? My fishing experience is almost nil...I have tried a couple times, but have never caught anything, ever! After passing some more lovely scenery of palms and broad leaf trees, we arrived in the Vero Beach area around 3 PM.

We docked at the Loggerhead Marina, on the starboard side (both to pump out at the fuel dock and then along the wall, docked for the night). Captain Roland did a great job. After leaving the fuel dock where we had pumped out, he went all the way around into the fairway, and re-approached the dock where we would be tied up for the evening. Well done! He is becoming more comfortable, and more skilled, handling this boat, which is bigger and beamier than his boat. He did an excellent job, with little assistance from his first mate, who is still working on learning, just about everything.

After docking, we walked about a mile and a half to Publix, This was the Monday after New Years Eve weekend and the pickings were sparse, to say the least, at the market.

We were due on Friday at the Sunset Bay Marina, for a week to get some work done. So we were taking our time and would be anchoring out for the next few nights until it was time to arrive at the marina in Stuart.

Tuesday, January 5, 2021 Day 31.

Today was the day of the Senate runoff election in Georgia. I got up late and it was nippy but sunny and beautiful. I took the opportunity to run 3 miles around the golf course that was related to the marina and cool down by walking about a mile over the various docks to look at all the boats.

We left the marina at about 10:45am, for an anchorage near Fort in Pierce. Some local boaters watched my work and came over to help us off the dock. Apparently I still need a lot of help and practice. An overnight success, I am not. Roland, however, was getting very good at handling the boat.

We were soon back on the ICW for a short, lovely, beautiful and peaceful ride, passing only one bridge that required opening. Most of the other bridges, and there were several, were high enough for us to pass under. We are only 25feet high. We saw many small boats fishing, dolphins frolicking, birds also fishing, and we reached our anchorage at Fort Pierce around 1:30 PM.

It was a lovely anchorage; there were several other boats there, some of them, I believe were Canadian based on their flags and the fact that the family was swimming in what I think is still a little too cool water for me. It was an early end of travel day (on our slow boat to Stuart), and, once anchored, we had a wonderful lunch on the back deck. Roland put up the sunscreens for the first time. I did some yoga, a zoom with high school friends and then a WIL grant meeting.

It was a delightful afternoon and evening.

Day 32, January 6, 2021 Wednesday. We were really being indulgent, taking advantage of the fact that we were traveling only a short distance each day. So we started today with a 9 AM breakfast of banana pancakes and lattes. We left the anchorage near Fort Pierce at 10 AM. When Roland brought up the anchor, it wasn't too muddy. Roland loves sandy bottoms; way less work, way less mess.

Our practice has been for me to be at the helm while Roland is bringing up and washing down the anchor, and then I follow the basic path out that we took in, back to the ICW (the path is marked on the screen monitor that is used for navigation). Normally, upon our return to the ICW, Captain Roland, resumes command of the helm. This time I stayed at the helm for almost 4 hours until we reached the St. Lucie River on the way to our planned anchorage, slightly west of Stuart.

At 12:50 PM, we approached an area with three bridges which were rather close together. The first bridge was a fixed bridge which we could go under, but it is so close to the next bridge, a railroad bridge, which is immediately followed by a low bridge for which we would have to request an opening, the old Roosevelt Bridge. Due to the timing, we had to spend about 25 minutes outside the fixed bridge, waiting for the requested opening. Finally the time arrived, and all the boats hanging around in this narrow area, carefully went through the fixed bridge and then the railroad bridge which remains open except when there was a closing for the train to pass, and then the old Roosevelt Bridge.

We turned up the St. Lucie River and went to the north branch.

While we were waiting for the old Roosevelt Bridge opening, I was listening to the confirmation of the electoral college debate in Congress. Suddenly all went dead on my phone with respect to the hearings. I assumed it was a technological problem relating to the three bridges. It was only later that I learned about the outrageous disaster that occurred in the Capitol. At 3:06 PM we anchored in the St. Lucie River. We had just reached the 1000 mile mark on this journey. We reached a high as the country suffered an incomprehensible low.

It was a total disconnect; here we were on this calm and beautiful journey while horrendous riots and despicable behavior was exploding in the nation's capital; outrageous and disgraceful. We did something we never do: we watched TV news while eating dinner. The violation of the oath of office of our political leaders is beyond unacceptable; the people of the US deserve better. I am appalled and horrified, but, sorry to say, not shocked. We got here one step at a time. It is shameful.

At 7 PM, I had a conference call for TCPW, to deal with changes necessary and desirable so that we can have reasonable diversity in our group. It was a very interesting zoom meeting. But the contrast of having this discussion after the events of the day left me disoriented; my feelings in disarray.

I was really having a hard time and stayed up rather late to work on my blog in order to try to get myself together in light of this horrendous happening in the Capitol. I was having a hard time coping.

January 7, 2021, Thursday, Day 32.

Awakened rather late, 7:30 AM, stretched, had roll style burritos ala Roland, for breakfast. After doing the dishes, making the bed and working out, I was trying to get a grip on where we were in light of yesterday's events. Listened to the worlds reactions, horrified so planning to support opponents of the representatives in Pennsylvania who still objected to the electoral college after the riot. When will we ever learn, when will we ever learn?

At Debbie Williams' suggestion, I had started listening to White Fragility. May be I will get some insight between that book and Caste. I need to understand.

At 1:40 PM, we moved a short distance to a different location, due to the change in the wind direction. Even though we were moving a very short distance, we had to take up the anchor and wash it down, and then travel for about 10 minutes and gain anchor. Roland tried to fix the tender motor but the tools to replace the parts were not on board.

Planning for tomorrow's docking at the Sunset Bay Marina in Stuart for a week to get work done, was required. The weather forecast was for very strong winds. Roland wanted to arrive at the marina dock at slack tide (1:30pm tomorrow), so it would be only the wind and not the current and the wind that would challenge our docking. Sunset Bay Marina docking tomorrow was going to be a challenge. I could tell that Roland was rather nervous.

 

The evening was overcast, it was getting very windy, and thousands of gnat type bugs were all over the boat. Although the anchorage was very beautiful and nearby the marina where we were scheduled to be tomorrow, the gnats alone should discourage folks from spending the night in this area.

Hopefully the worst is behind us with respect to what happened in the Capitol, the day before. Some elected and appointed officials need to be fired, censored, even prosecuted including POTUS.

Friday, January 8, 2021, Day 33.

The clouds disappeared and the sun was out, but it was very windy and Roland was stressing; captain Roland is concerned about docking in these conditions in Sunset Bay Marina, which is very crowded (he had been here before), and with the strong wind, even though our timing had neutralized the effect of the current, 30 knot winds, made docking very difficult. And, keep in mind, we are still newbies.

In preparation for docking, Roland put out all of the fenders on both sides, and explained my docking job. I had a half hitch tying lesson. I had been trying to master the half hitch for weeks (it isn't really that difficult; I seemed to have had a mental block regarding a half hitch!). After a very frustrating 30 minutes, I think I finally figured out how to tie a half hitch. So, there we were, on our way, to Sunset Bay (musical notes), and I was tying half hitch knots every 10 minutes.