April 25, 2020 – Up and out early again, leaving West Palm Beach behind, for a longish (57 miles) day up to Fort Pierce, if the weather would hold.
A megayacht harbor was just up the waterway from us, and we snapped a couple shots on our way by. A couple boats had crew outside polishing the stainless already, and it was only 7 AM.
There was a 50% chance of scattered thunderstorms, but the way things were shaping up early, it looked like maybe they wouldn’t materialize.
All the bridges today were tall enough that we wouldn’t have to request any openings, so other than slowing briefly at each one to pass under, were were able to keep up a steady pace. Well, as steady as the signs would allow us.
For long stretches we were the only boat again, but toward midday, there were quite a few more boats out, many heading out the inlets into the ocean for fishing.
A couple were big sportfish boats like the one parked at this very atypical style house (for Florida)
Or like this one that needed the bridge lifted for his big outriggers.
And a lot were more like this one who blasted around us about 20 feet off our starboard rail-
We’d been coming through very built-up areas, since Miami, and it was nice to have some more rural areas with some wildife. Unlike in the Chesapeake, where ospreys often nest atop navigation aids, here there nests are up in dead trees.
It had been a while since we had dolphins come play alongside the boat, so it was a nice treat to watch them for a while.
Although navigating was pretty straightforward overall, today was one of the first times that we would encounter one of the ‘trouble-spots’ along the AICW where shoaling occurs significantly enough to impede safe passage through the marked channel. In other words, even if you are in the channel, between the red and green markers, you can still run aground. We have some electronic aids that show us current Army Corps of Engineer survey data, as well as some ‘recommended tracks’ from a particular experienced ICW cruiser. Here is the Jupiter Inlet, with the iPad showing the safe and danger ares, with safe route.
We were glad to get to the Fort Pierce City Marina by around 1 pm, in time to fuel up and pump out, and to take advantage of the shore power for some nice sustained AC.
After some boat cleanup, Ben walked a few blocks to get carryout at a Thai restaurant. The predicted storms finally rolled through at about 7, and a bit later we enjoyed a video chat with our son Greg and his fiancee.