Wednesday May 6
We have thoroughly enjoyed our unexpectedly long stay in Ft. Pierce. The restored waterfront there is just charming. It is very pedestrian friendly. We spent the last day having coffee and muffins at the bakery and stopping in several of the shops. Very cute, coastal things that I love! Then we went to the farmers market. Bought glazed nuts, peach turnovers and apple ricotta bread. We picked up a spicy meat hand pie for lunch from a vendor that we remembered from Stuart. She makes wonderful conch salad and conch fritters too! I enjoy looking at some of the handcrafted jewelry. It sprinkles rain on us just a little. The sun comes back out and the wind picks up. Carl took me to dinner at the Original Tiki Hut. We had the best Cuban sandwich anywhere and a delicious coconut shrimp and mango salad. Key lime pie is on the menu.....so we have to try it! I think it's the best we've had! This evening was an unexpected and delicious treat! It's hard to understand why we're still here. Oh yeah, there's a tropical depression out there.
Thursday May 7
We left the dock at Ft. Pierce at 7 a.m. It is a beautiful morning and we leave just before slack tide. Much easier getting out than it was getting in. That tropical depression has stalled out off the coast north of us. Hope it moves on quickly. The wind is out of the north but we are moving with the tide doing 6 knots. By 11:00 we can tell that the tide is changing. We still manage 5+ knots all day. We decide to anchor at one of our predetermined choices just north of the Eau Gallie bridge. We are happy with the 45 miles that we got behind us today. We were entertained by dolphins as we at our dinner. There is a bar on shore and I am enjoying the music from the band playing tonight as I write my blog.
Friday May 8
Departed our anchorage at 7:15a.m. There are lots of butterflies that fly with us all day. We are at Titusville by 1:30p.m. With a threat of afternoon thunderstorms, we decide to take advantage of the marina. With the afternoon to explore we walked to town and visited Sav-a-lot and the Sunrise bakery. A few clouds gather, but no rain yet. We walk the shore by the marina after dinner and spot a manatee. Turns out to be a nice evening.
Saturday May 9
We untied the lines and left the dock at 8:30 a.m. It is cool and overcast but quickly turns sunny and hot as predicted. There are white butterflies all around us again today. I google white butterflies. There are 5 white butterflies commonly found in Florida. These look like Great Southern Whites. They migrate north for the summer when temperatures reach 70° and above. They're headed north with us! We tied up to the New Smyrna Beach town dock at 1:30. Another short day but the anchorage pickings are slim the next few days. And we were making such good time doing nearly 7 knots at times. This was a delightful day on the water, as all of the recreational boaters here were on their best behavior. We walked to town and discovered that a car show had taken over the streets of the historic Canal Street district. We enjoyed looking at the cars and stopped for a rootbeer float at the Canal Creamery. When we returned to the boat we met a young couple on a boat next to us. They came down the Mississippi River, from Minnesota to New Orleans, in a canoe! Then they decided they needed a bigger boat and bought a 28 foot sailboat. They were having problems with their batteries so Carl helped them troubleshoot. They are headed..... as far as they can go. It's hard to believe that it was November when we came through last on our way south. We have really lucked out with the weather. We've been keeping tabs on Sea Quell and Nemo as they are both headed north too. Sea Quell is in Savannah and Nemo should be in Norfolk by now. The tropical depression has kept them both in the ICW.