St Augustine

We planned to spend one night in St Augustine in the north anchorage but then a nor'easter moved in. It was eerie. We saw the clouds gather on the horizon about 11:30 AM, and then the wind just slammed in. One minute all was calm and the next was like a tempest in a teapot. Last night was unpleasant, especially during low tide when the wind and current were opposite. We moved into the city marina this morning and plan to hit the ICW again on Monday when the winds shift and calm down.

Cocoa

We went into Ft Pierce on Friday t0 hear the Dave Brubeck Quartet at the Sunrise Theatre. Our plans to leave early Saturday were postponed when we met Charley and Ileen from Manitoba who were heading back home from a cruise in the Bahamas. Gilles and Charley talked boat for hours. We finally left in the early afternoon and found a great anchorage north of Vero Beach between Pine Island and Hole in the Wall Island.

Sunday was a great sailing day with perfect wind and we did our best distance ever, over 50 miles, to get into Cocoa about 6 PM in time to see (and hear) the 7:43 PM Space Shuttle launch. It was awesome. The horizon lit up as if the earth was on fire, the Space Shuttle looked like a large bright speck taking off, and the smoke trails were colorful in the dark sky. We could see, even at this distance, the solid rocket boosters fall into the sea. All around us people whooped and hollered. Our little adventure on the sea seems so very small compared to a trip into outer space.

Fort Pierce

When we left Stuart we headed north to Jensen Beach for a day, and then Nettles Island Marina to get water and charge the batteries. Several people recommended that we go to Peck Lake so we turned around and went back south. We took the dinghy to shore to Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge on Jupiter Island and walked along the Atlantic and collected shells.

This is where we met Paul Johnson, sailor extraordinaire from the Shetland Islands and an accomplished boatbuilder and artist, who regaled us with stories of his past sails and current life living on his boat.

Stuart

We're spending the weekend on a mooring at Sunset Bay Anchorage at Stuart on the St. Lucie River, east of Lake Okeechobee. It was a pleasant trip from Cocoa with a stop in Ft. Pierce to fill up the gas cans and water tank. Even with our new GPS with charts, we almost went aground twice with Gilles at the tiller, looking around instead of watching where he was going. Fortunately, I came out of the cabin both times (always looking at the depth finder on my way out) and saw that we were out of the channel.

We spent one night at Manatee Pocket near the Crossroads of the St Lucie Inlet, the ICW and the St Lucie River, where we met Hal, a friend from the boatyard at San Mateo. Manatee Pocket is a small, pleasant anchorage with a luxury marina and restaurant nearby. Since he's always looking for something to do, Gilles climbed up the mast to adjust the radio antenna.

Stuart is a nice little town with art galleries, a historical museum, a waterfront park, and stores to pick up supplies. Gilles worked on the boat some more and I cleaned up only to discover a leak (minor) in the water tank.

Cocoa

The scenery along the ICW is typically wild natural Florida on one side and mansions/condos on the other.

We're hanging out in Cocoa for a day or so to replenish supplies and get another GPS because ours is intermittently losing power.

Jacksonville to Cocoa

Leaving Palatka on Sat, Feb 21, we headed north on the St Johns River to Jacksonville, where we docked at Jacksonville Landing alongside the pilot ship, Virginia. She followed and then passed us as she headed out to sea and we turned south on the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW), stopping for the night at Jacksonville Beach, Daytona Beach, Titusville, and Cocoa Village. Along the way we went aground twice (not unusual on the ICW especially during low tide) and managed to outrun dark threatening clouds and thunderstorms on the approach to Titusville.

Cafe Bleuu, Welaka, Florida

We couldn't start the cruise without a farewell dinner at Cafe Bleuu in Welaka. Afterwards, we walked down to the city dock and saw this egret.