Sailing from St Augustine to Fort Pierce.... twice.

Hello from warm and sunny (and crowded and windy) Fort Pierce, FL! This last hop took me from the southern limit(perhaps) of pecan trees to the northern limit of coconuts. 

Monty sure loved St Augustine: he really enjoyed streets and alleys where he could check what other dogs had posted and loved visiting all the other dogs and people.

And then there is the street food: 

Moving farther south isn't too hard: one can glide down the ICW (Intracoastal Waterway) if one does not mind running the engine a lot or waiting for favorable winds... or run down the coast: anyone guess my choice? I found what seemed to be a passable weather window: no fighting against heavy winds or headwinds.... although MAYBE a bit uncertain if I would have enough time to get there amid fluctuating wind strengths and directions before strong headwinds tossed me back. Still, I had been off of the open ocean for over two weeks and the worst possibility was that I would sail back north in nasty wind and wave. (Hmm.... CLEARLY I should have kept a record of forecast screenshots, but I'll do my best with words.)

SO, into the great wide open! Rough night on the first night, but morning brought calmer waves and less jolting and evening brought a beautiful sunset and practically calm weather. 

Ah, well: I heaved-to and relaxed and watched shooting stars, including fireball that drew a line of flaming debris past the full moon. VERY cool! Once the moon set, phosphorescence made the water glow. The next day brought sunshine and light breezes, but not a lot of progress: less than 1/3 of the distance done and nearly half the time.... time to turn tail and head back to St Augustine, *sigh*.

After another lovely night at sea and a day progressing SLOWLY north,

I finally entered the river at around 1am on an incoming tide. Dropped anchor at 2am and fell asleep, my soul well fed with terns, dolphins, starry skies, sunrises and sunsets, quiet, and sunshine.

My next window came a few days later. Much more consistent wind directions forecast, maximum around 15 or 20 knots.... and a SpaceX launch! 

I set out and, purely through luck, managed to see the delayed launch as it lit up the southern sky at 8:30pm and rose into the sky. Dolphins visited in the daytime, sometimes greeted ferociously by Monty. For one half-hour period I spotted a many Portuguese man-o-war jellies looking like small plastic bottles or baggies floating on the water. The water color turned a lighter blue as I moved south.

My one concern was that the wind direction would turn into my face before I could reach Fort Pierce and, sure enough, that final night I got as far as Vero Beach, but then began to lose ground as I tacked into the current and very light wind. Fortunately, the wind increased the next day and I managed to reach the entrance....on an outgoing tide against incoming waves. I'm sorry I don't have a photo, but I could hardly steer the boat, occasionally turning sideways and rolling a bit wildly in the churning current and waves: not quite whitewater, but certainly would have overturned a canoe! Finally, I reached smooth water and the wind pushed me slowly against the current, into the very crowded harbor (I've never seen more than half this many boats anchored here). I dropped anchors in one of my favorite spots and made dinner, my back spasming painfully. The next day was entirely calm and I managed to drop the dinghy, walk Monty, and purchase ice.

In the week or so since I have been trying to get my back to recover. I've had it this bad before, but not for at least a decade, maybe even two decades. Lots of ice, ibuprofen, yoga, rest, swimming, and an improvised rack have brought things back to the point that I'm enjoying life again and can move about the boat with only minimal concern. What a relief! And, of course, this sort of thing makes me really appreciate feeling good! 

Monty cuddles with me a lot,

but I'm very short of hugs....

Cynthia's next available time to meet is last week of March, but airfares to the Bahamas are really pricey due to spring break.... so I'm considering sailing east to the Sargasso Sea, then south/south-east to Puerto Rico or the US Virgins. I'd really enjoy meeting her in our old spot by the airport in St Thomas, although PR or Culebra would be fun, too. Of course, it all depends on my back and the weather: next window is in about a week...