River Forest Yacht Center in Stuart, FL to Fort Pierce City Marina, Fort Pierce, FL
THE TREASURE COAST
Day #277: Mike and I were up at 5:30 A.M. to watch the weather which was going to be perfect sunny, 82 degrees with light winds. Mike started the engines at 6:45 A.M. while the two of us then prepared for departure. At 7:00 A.M. Mike helped Mike from "Dash Away" to get off the dock. At 7:10 A.M. Mike and I used boat hooks to push "Parrot Bay" away from the wall as the water was very shallow near the wall. Mike then spun the boat in the basin. At 7:20 A.M. Mike hailed the St. Lucie Lock. "Parrot Bay" was secure in the lock the lockmaster lowered bow and stern lines then gave Mike a reusable bag and towel gift (Mike and I had a Manitowoc Marina give gifts but they never thought that a lock would give out gifts.). "Parrot Bay" was clear of the St. Lucie Lock (30th lock for the trip) at 7:50 A.M. after being dropped 12 feet. At 8:50 A.M. Mike hailed the Roosevelt Bridge but was told that there was a train coming so had to wait until the train cleared for the bridge to be raised. At 9:10 A.M. the train started passing. At 9:20 A.M. "Parrot Bay" was clear of the Roosevelt Bridge after a 30 minute delay. At 10:00 A.M. "Parrot Bay" entered it's first "Hell's Gate" (one of many) which is a tight turn on the water with current but "Parrot Bay" was on a rising tide so we did great. At 10:20 A.M. "Parrot Bay" was at "the junction" where the Lake Okeechobee waterway and the Atlantic Intercoastal Waterway cross. It is very tricky as boats are coming in four different directions (like a four way stop sign without stop signs and no turn signals) Mike maneuvered it without difficult even though it was busy. At 12:20 P.M. "Parrot Bay" passing Jensen beach 9.3 miles per hour but decreased to 8.6 miles per hour with the tide. At 1:10 P.M. "Parrot Bay" was secured at Fort Pierce City Marina. Today "Parrot Bay" traveled 39.4 miles (2,725 miles total for the trip). Mike from "Dash Away", Mike and Patty headed to the onsite "Original Tiki Bar" for lunch at the Fort Pierce City Marina. The three had a great lunch getting to know each other and Mike "Dash Away" shared his experiences from his 1st loop. After lunch Mike and I headed back to the boat heading up to the flying bridge for happy hour as the breeze was cooling and gave the two of us some time to relax. We are working on our next destination as this is as far as the current plan went at this time. At 6:30 P.M. it was time for navigation planning and blogging. Kevin and Laurie from "Laurie Jean" stopped by they are loopers who started their loop in Punta Gorda and Debra and Gil from "Chrysalis" gold loopers stopped by share stories of their looping adventures.
