Still in Fort Pierce

Bear and Bligh

Since meeting up with Keeling Time, we have been in this marina. We were waiting for parts, both crews. Ours arrived yesterday and we repaired and installed the prop. Keeling Time is waiting for wizbang 100 amp battery charger and it has not arrived yet. We plan to "buddy boat" (sounds sort of whimpy huh?) with them at least to the Florida/Georgia line. We are told that the Georgia coast is, with few exceptions, something we can skip offshore. Fort Pierce is about a third of the way up the Florida coast. We now know that we will be following hot weather north for the rest of the summer, so there is no expectation of sleeping much with the hatches open. The surprising thing is that we have yet to get really "buggy". Our guess is that they are digging in along the Carolinas waiting for us.

It is getting brutally hot here with very little breeze. That means that Bear has knocked out about a book a day sitting below in the cool. I manage to continue to do topside stuff as long as the Gatorade holds out. Hydration in this climate is a must in port. At anchor, the impact is lessened since whisps of sea air keep arriving.

Early yesterday morning, we heard something exhaling under our boat. It did it twice and then bumped the hull. It was a manatee we think because it took it's time wollering along the hull under us. Or, could it have been some sea monster sizing us up?


Once underway again, we expect to make the Cape Canaveral area fairly soon, perhaps two days. Then we anticipate stops in Daytona Beach, St. Augustine and Jacksonville before leaving the state with endless coasts. We remember with fondness those places now under seige by oil. Most of the ports we visited were almost fully recovered from the hurricanes and looking forward to an active tourist season.