No need for sunglasses this morning as we left Ft. Pierce. Getting there was tough (more on that below) and getting out of there was tough, with very strong cross currents coming out of the channel and into the Indian River.

Our arrival at Ft. Pierce City Marina was delayed by hours (and I feared it might be delayed by a day or more, causing us to lose our weather window to Miami) due to a problem which caused our wheel to vibrate so much that Doug found it difficult to hold onto. He put the boat in reverse, and I felt and heard something spin off; still, however, vibrations persisted, though less than before. Doug called our diver, who said he could take a look in a few hours, so back we went to Vero/Velcro Beach and dropped anchor in the very spot where we arrived on New Year’s Day. Our diver arrived a short time later, dove under the boat and removed barnacles from the prop, checked the rudder, and we were able to get underway. Our gratitude was effusive (and expressed by a generous tip); surprising about the barnacles, since we had the bottom and prop cleaned two weeks ago. Sea creatures apparently work tirelessly and efficiently.

(Getting back to the topic of the weather, Doug was talking with a guy from Kill Devil Hills who spent the past several weeks aboard his boat in Miami, and is now going home because he is so disgusted with the wind, rain, and cold temperatures.)

We dropped anchor across from the Palm Beach Yacht Club in Lake Worth around 5 pm, after clearing seven bridge openings (always stressful). Below are some pictures from today’s passage.