Late afternoon, we dropped the hook just south of Latana Bridge. Since rain was expected, we put up all the canvas and sat out a brief shower on the boat. When the rain let up, we took the dinghy to shore to the Old Key Lime House restaurant for dinner. Then the real storm came through. All we could do was watch the Pura Vida vanish from sight in the curtain of rain. Thankfully the anchor held firm.
The Friday evening storm brought in much cooler weather. On Saturday, We traveled all day with the canvas up for warmth. The Boat Show was going on in Palm Beach so the area was very busy. Once again we saw many impressive mega yachts. Our home for the evening was Hobe Sound. We dropped anchor near the west shore and also put down a stern anchor to hold us tight to shore as it was predicted to get fairly windy during the night.
Sunday was another cool and windy day. We traveled 34 miles up to Fort Pierce where we stayed 2 nights at the City Marina. This is a heavy gravity marina as we dropped and lost both our waste tank cover and our boat wash brush. A bike ride to West Marine and Boat Owners Wearhouse got us back ship shape.
On Monday, our friends Russ, Elaine and Sea Dog Ike from Twelve Stones drove over from Fort Myers to visit. We had a great lunch on the Fort Pierce inlet. Russ and Elaine have given us tons of great advice and information as they have finished the Loop. We will miss them as we continue on and they are staying in Florida. Later that afternoon, we took a dinghy ride around the area.
Tuesday we left Fort Pierce around noon after a morning bike ride. We cruised 52 miles up to Melbourne. It was close to 7pm when we dropped the hook for evening.
On Wednesday, we woke to find the boat full of water! April Fools! HaHa! We traveled 18 miles to Cocoa Village City Marina for 2 nights. Cocoa Village is a quaint town with fun shops and restaurants.
Captain Fix-it found the greatest, 3 story, got everything, hardware store named Travis Hardware. If they had a fourth floor with apartments, he may have stayed forever. While Steve spent time drooling in the hardware, Sheli enjoyed the other shops in town. At night we walked into town for pizza, or as one of our Canadian friends call it "stink wheel".
On Thursday, we rented at car and went to the Kennedy Space Center. It was fun, educational and very impressive! Late afternoon we drove through Port Canaveral and to Cocoa Beach.
Friday morning was another beautiful day for cruising. Along the way we traveled through Haulover Canal (near NASA). Native Americans and early settlers were forced to portage or "haul over" their canoes and boats across a half mile of land from the Indian River to Mosquito Lagoon prior to the building of this canal. Along this canal, there is a basin about the size of a hockey rink (go Red Wings) which is crowded with Manatees. It looked like a Manatee Flash Mob! Awesome! We continued on to our anchorage in Mosquito Lagoon. How crazy does that sound? The name was misleading as we did not have one mosquito all night. We dropped the dinghy and rode 1/4 mile to shore where the first mate jumped off and walked a few hundred yards over a hill to the Atlantic Ocean beach. Beautiful beach!
Saturday we traveled 15 miles to New Smyrna Beach where we took a slip for 2 nights at New Smyrna Marina. (Very new and nice!) In the afternoon we took the dinghy to the Ponce Inlet. Near the inlet, there are many sandy beach small islands where local boaters hangout on the weekend.
Easter Sunday, we woke early as we were planning to attend Easter sunrise service on the beach. Then it dawned on us (yes, pun intended), this would require a 5 mile bike ride in the dark with no lights. Plan B was to get a taxi. It seems they are not readily available in this area at 6am. So, it was back to bed for a couple hours and then we attended Easter Service at the United Church of Christ located a mile from the boats. Happy Easter to all. He is Risen!
Awesome home!
Nice digs!
Pura Vida before the storm.
Honey, I lost the boat!
Palm Beach Boat Show
I wouldn't want to pay the shrink wrap bill on one of these boats!
Boy manatees can get big!
Russ, Elaine and Sea Dog Ike
Beach spoil island
Kennedy Space Center 
NASA Vehicle Assembly Building 
Captain in front of space shuttle launch rocket
Moon rover!
Full moon over Mosquito Lagoon.
You guys are having way too much fun :)
ReplyDeleteHE IS RISEN INDEED!
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