Thursday has come and gone and we are still in Stuart. This past week it appeared that the prediction for Thursday was 10-15 mph out of the East, with a chance of showers. Considering our recent weather, this would be fine for traveling to Vero Beach. By Wednesday evening, this had changed. Now, the prediction for today was 15-20 mph out the East with 70% chance of rain. We checked the radar around 6:00 am and it showed several cells coming in over our route on the Indian River and Ft. Pierce. As the sun came up, the skies were ominous. This picture does not accurately depict what we saw. With no need to go to Vero and preferring Stuart if the weather came as predicted, we called Bob and Mary and said we were staying put. No argument on their part. Did I mention a chance of thunderstorms Friday and Saturday with locally heavy rain?

We had ideal weather crossing Florida. After we arrived in Stuart, a cold front came through, which is not unusual for this time of year. Such a front is preceded by rainy weather and then it is followed by cooler, drier temperatures. This did not happen. As it sometimes occurs, the front stalled over southern Florida. This results in cloudy skies, wind and threats of rain. Then a stalled front will move back north, pulling warm, humid air with it. More clouds, wind and rain. Reportedly, another cold front is due to pass through this weekend. When is it going to stop?

Last Tuesday, while sitting in the cockpit, I turned and looked upriver. There was a wall of rain speeding down the river. We had about two minutes to get ready for it. As we watched it go through, Patty saw one light dinghy behind another boat completely in the air, upside down. In all, it lasted about 15 minutes.

We are beginning to question why we come to the East Coast at all. It is very difficult to plan our trip north as we don’t know when to leave, how long to get there, and how to return to the West Coast. Bill and Patty have even tried to convince us to cross to the Bahamas with them. If we can’t even leave here, how is there ever going to be a suitable window to cross?

Does it sound like I’m venting? Well, I am. Fortunately, Stuart is a great area to wait out weather. We just don’t want to live here.