We had a fantastic sail down from Cape Canaveral to Fort Pierce just before Christmas, averaging mid 9 knots with a reefed main. A few issues popped up, and it was fortunate we were headed to an area with good marine services.
The Anchorage at Fort Pierce Inlet was large enough to find an area with lots of swing room and a good sandy bottom. It was also subject to strong tidal flow, and half the time the anchor was under the boat, a not particularly restful situation.
Christmas Eve, we invited a couple we’d met back in Brunswick over for a little holiday cheer. It was fun to catch up and hear their plans and stories of travel thus far. In addition to just being fun folk, they were also owners of a Catana 471, a sister boat to ours. They were heading off after Christmas, while we sourced the parts we needed.
The Inlet was active with daily visits from Dolphin, Pelican, Osprey, fishing and cruising boats, and a Tiki Bar that cruised around the anchorage with a few hearty souls on bar stools aboard. It was mostly windy, rainy, and cool, with the exception of 3, half days of delightful warm sunny stuff.
We had 2 days at the Harbortown Marina to collect new starting batteries and new alternator belts. The new belts we had put on in Cape Canaveral had shredded in under 3 hours of use. Turns out there isn’t a good and cheap option for the recommended Volvo belts.
We did enjoy the live music and a crunchy Trigger fish sandwich at the Skippers Cove restaurant while at the dock, along with some walks and a few other boat jobs.
The second night at the dock, we were up to watch the heavy SpaceX rocket launch. We hollered to the boat next to us with 5 kids aboard, and they all swarmed up on their deck to watch it with squeals of delight.
With everything ship shape again, it was back to the anchorage while we waited for a window to cross the Gulfstream to the northern Bahamas. Sunday the 31st was the best option, with 2 good travel days possible.
The crossing had light flukey breezes and the predicted 6 foot swell, which was no trouble. We got to the shallow Bahamas Bank around 3 pm, and continued on until we anchored for a few hours of shut eye, at 11.30 pm. It was calm enough and shallow enough to anchor anywhere off the main path, so we dropped the hook off Little Sale Cay and got to see a few fireworks from Walker Cay. A pretty nice start to the New Year, eh!
New Years Day was another good and sunny travel day. We continued down to Marsh Harbor, and it’s almost all around protected anchorage. Yep, the next week was showing wind from all quadrants, so we were happy to have a home for a wee while, get some sleep, and plan the next hop.
¡Feliz Año Nuevo con deseos de un maravilloso año por venir!
Too cool! Enjoy the exploration on this side of the pond. Happy New Year.