We motored out of our anchorage around 8am on another sunny, no wind day. It was in the high 60s and I started out today with shorts for the first time.
I had really hoped to sail much of the Indian River from Titusville to Ft. Pierce but the winds were only 4-5 knots so didn't really help. But, it was a lovely day with the ICW traffic seeming a little less. Maybe we're getting south of where people are staying for a while?
We motored with a little help from the jib through Vero Beach. After Vero, the ICW opens up a bit and we were actually able to turn off the engine for the last 2 hours to Ft. Pierce. I think this is the first engine-off sailing since before Myrtle Beach. It was quite nice as the boat ran 5-6 knots with the jib and 1/2 main.
Around 3pm, we pulled into the Ft. Pierce City Marina for fuel and water. This was the cheapest fuel stop around at $2.87 / gallon for diesel. Our last fuel and water stop was 12 days ago in Myrtle Beach, 549 nautical miles ago. We took 93 gallons of diesel (5.9 miles to the gallon - good for a 21 ton boat) and about 180 gallons of water. This added over 2,100 pounds to Second Wind and it always surprises me how much lower we sit in the water. Using the fuel and water is a gradual thing over a week or two so I don't really notice the change. Filling takes about 1/2 hour so you really see the difference. I call the boat a "big wallowing pig" after filling our tanks. Laura doesn't like that saying...
After leaving the fuel dock, we motored across the ICW about 2 miles to the Ft. Pierce Causeway anchorage. This is a easy-in, easy-out anchorage but open to the south. Tonight the winds were light from the east so it was perfect. Almost too perfect... Usually there might be 2 or 3 other boats here. Today there were 16. Still plenty of room to anchor in 15 feet of water but I couldn't anchor in my normal spot. Oh well. Can't always have what you want.
We spent the rest of the night in the quiet anchorage. I practiced guitar for awhile and Laura brought out her Dolcimer and played a bit. She's getting much better!
Friday, November 22nd (Day 57)
Today was a short run to Sunset Bay Marina in Stuart but we were up early so left around 7:30am anyway. It was very calm morning on the Indian River and we had the whole waterway to ourselves for about 2 hours. This picture almost looks black and white because of the clouds.
The rest of the ICW fleet woke up an hour or two after us and caught us before the Jensen Beach Bridge. Lots of boats on the waterway today - from both directions!
No problems with the turn into the St. Lucie River (one of the tricky areas for shoaling) and we tied to a mooring at Sunset Beach Marina around 12:30pm. I was pleasantly surprised that there were several mooring available. Usually, they are pretty popular and sometimes we have to anchor for a night or two before one opens up. Oh yeah. I forgot why it wasn't so busy. Last year the marina increased their mooring rates $35 to $45 / night - one of the most expensive moorings on the east coast. The weekly rate is $225 so a little better.
Like many marinas, Sunset Bay tries to get boats to stay longer so make the monthly rates much more reasonable than the daily or weekly. Check this out. The weekly mooring rate is $225 but you can stay a whole month for $450. It's like getting 2 weeks free!
We cleaned up a bit then dropped the dinghy and motored into the marina dinghy dock. After going to the office for check-in and paying for a week, we walked about 3/4 mile to the Publix shopping-center. I had been really looking forward to the Chinese Buffet so we skipped lunch today and made this our lunch / dinner. This is the best Chinese Buffer I've ever been to. It's actually a Japanese Buffet but they have all the normal Chinese dishes you find at a Chinese Buffet. They have a huge Sushi-Bar with real Sushi and 10-15 different tasty sushi rolls. Usually, when you see Sushi in a Chinese Buffet, it's veggie-sushi. Even when they have raw fish, it usually a small piece of fish and a big hunk of rice. Not at the Sakura Japanese Buffet. They have the best salmon and tuna sushi and I really enjoyed it by eating way too much. By the way, the lunch was $10 a person. How do they do it?
We stopped at Publix for a few fresh veggies than waddled back to the boat. I'm glad we had about 3/4 miles to settle the huge lunch I ate.
Back at the marina Laura signed us up for their Thanksgiving dinner. Like many marinas, Sunset Bay is supplying the turkey and the boaters the side dishes. She is making sausage-stuffing and something for dessert.
Since it was a sunny day, our solar panels had kept up with power usage and even nicely topped off our batteries while we were gone. We worked a few boat jobs and I placed an order on Amazon plus had a package of mail sent to us here. Our current mailing address is a mail service (TravelingMailbox.com) that collects our mail and we can view it on-line. If there are some things we need in person, we can have it shipped to wherever we are.
Our weather has been very nice the past few days and we are even going to miss the next two cold fronts that will hit the east coast. Check out this forecast for Stuart, FL.
Pretty sunset pic that Laura took from our mooring at Sunset Bay Marina.
Tomorrow we will settle in. This is a great place to take walks and we'll visit a few favorite places for lunch - especially the Sushi bar again.
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