So with very the front now behind us but with ominous weather stretching far into next week, we have a small window to head from Lantana to Stuart where we’ll start the process of getting Sea Sharp ready to store for the summer.

We have a long ways to go today with many bridges and there is a strong head wind making going slow and manoeuvrability around bascule bridges challenging. We are ready for an early start but have to wait for the dock hands to come and help us to help us out of our labyrinthine spider web of lines we had rigged to hold us secure during the front. We finally get underway at 8:15 and have a long way to go, particularly with 15 to 20 knots on the nose slowing our speed considerably and many, many bridges. But it’s a pleasant enough day and we finally head up the St. Lucie River towards Stuart and the Loggerhead Marina, we’ll make our home again for another week or so while we get Sea Sharp ready for storage.

We call into the Marina and they assign us a slip. They tell us that they’ll have personnel to take our lines but there will also be a peanut gallery of cruising friends to welcome us and take our lines (and just wait for me to make some error in piloting our vessel into the narrow slips). Well, tired but content, we head to our assigned slip in this large marina complex and are welcomed by a number of cruisers. It feels like home! Thanks guys!