Tuesday 14 January 2020
All right!

It's morning. Sort of. We arrived at the fuel dock at Sunset Bay Marina at around 0200 last night, had a quick bite to eat, a celebratory tot, and crashed for three to four hours until the marina opened and we could find out what dock space they are going to put us in and buy some more fuel and top up the water tanks.

Our check in went through the internet and I must say that went really smoothly. We report our arrival; they already have our passport information and the ship's papers. So, it's a ten minute wait for the approval, or not, as the case may be. In our case we were approved. The only thing that we don't understand is how we get a cruising permit. As it turns out, although we have been cleared into the US, for a cruising permit we still need to visit a customs office. Oh well. At least we can put up the US courtesy flag and be legit. The customs office in Fort Pierce were also very helpful in issuing the cruising permit.

Also, another loud shout out to TowBoatUS and how well spent the $150 we paid for unlimited towing. The tow captain met us at the mouth of the inlet and towed us through the inlet avoiding all the shallow bits, went in bridge doggy circles while we waited for two trains to go through and they could lift the bridge and then he helped us put Nelleke alongside at the fuel dock to await morning. Great thing to put my mind at rest. Coming in through monuments at the entrance to the inlet was pretty hairy. Lots of depth, just narrow and bouncy.

We got into the marina and were assigned a slip on the dock where we tied up for two days. Once we were in and secure we found a couple of stowaways in the scuppers. That's their mug shot with this post - flying fish from just offshore of North Bimini. I will be using them for bait to try to catch a snook which I am told are very good eating. They are a large fish but we have loads of room in the freezer. At least until the next Publix run tomorrow. After staying here for the two days we will look at our options. We could take a mooring or start wending our way back north.

At the next Cruiser's Happy Hour we are going to treat our fellow boaters to some cold lobster and various dips. I have cooked four tails and shelled them and they are sitting in the fridge cooling down. The idea will be to cut them into small chunks and serve them on a toothpick with various dips - seafood sauce, spicy chilli crisp, as examples.

Ok. Enough for now. I will update this if anything shocking happens but if not this will be the last post for today.