RRRRRip....We finally left Stuart today heading up the St. Lucie for Indiantown Marina for summer haul out. Out plans to haul out on May 7 got derailed by a family emergency. We made an unplanned trip north by plane for 10 days leaving on May 3 and returning to Light Reach on May 15. We quickly called Indiantown and canceled haul out plans. We had buttoned Reach up as well as we could and made sure her lines were doubled and strong. Brenda and Dale on Inevitable graciously watched over her and ferried us in and back to shore, allowing us to leave the dingy on the front deck.
Upon our return we spent the next 4 days schlepping everything we could off Light Reach for summer storage at the condo. I defrosted the refrigerator and cleaned all the lockers with vinegar and water.
This morning on a rising tide we cast the lines off the mooring ball on a rising tide and turned up the river. It was sad to say Good Bye we certainly love Stuart and Sunset Bay Marina. When we reached the St Lucie lock I radioed the Lock Keeper requesting permission to lock through on the next westbound locking. He was currently locking through an eastbound vessel. There were 3 of us waiting to enter the lock, another sailbotat and a power vessel. Once we got the green light we entered the lock second, behind the other sailboat. The lock keeper cast the lines down to us and once all the vessels were settled began the business of filling the lock. It seemed to take forever but in reality was only about 20 minutes. I was glad I remembered to put on gloves, the lines are hard on the hands. There was quite a bit of turbulence and keeping the boat in place and the line taut takes a bit of pulling.
We exited the lock and proceeded on our way. We soon lost sight of the first sailboat who traveled at a much faster rate and the power boat passed us after w few minutes. We felt lucky that we were able to maintain a decent speed of 5 knots . The bottom hadn’t been cleaned since November. LOL we weren’t sure we would move at all. It was a hot and brilliantly sunny day. We’d left the bimini on and our FEMA tarp over the boom so we had a place to hide from the sun. It took approximately 5 hours to make the trip. The Inidantown railroad bridge was closed as we approached it so I radioed the tender to ask him if we could get an opening. At first he said that there were two trains coming and we’d have to wait, A few minutes later he radioed back that he would open the bridge but we’d have to skedaddle through so he could get it closed before the trains got there. We had a bit of confusion over which side of the swing bridge we should pass. I asked for clarification but got it wrong and received a scolding from the tender. I thought he meant the port side of the boat not the bridge. He had plenty of time to close it as we were in the Marina and at the dock before I heard the train whistle. We ended up at the same dock that we had been at in the fall which worked out really well.
Scott got the electric hooked up and I got the fans going. Indiantown is known to be hot and buggy and today was no exception. Once we were settled at the dock Scott called Helen for a ride back to Sunset Bay to pick up the car. I stayed back and packed up a few more things to schlep to the condo. We’ll spend the night here on the boat. Haul out is scheduled for 11:00 am tomorrow. Another season coming to an end.
The picture was taken as we approached the I95 bridge. I always find it a bit nerve wracking passing under the bridges.