Happy Thanksgiving from Stuart, Florida!
We left Beaufort, NC and had a wonderful sail to the St. John's River. The wind was a little forward of the beam and there were big seas leaving Beaufort but the wind quickly clocked and came from the northwest and north for the whole trip. A perfect downwind sail.
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| Our friends Dee and Nicholas (from South Africa/met them in the Ragged Islands) are leaving Jacksonville as we come in. They're easy to spot on Meshugga, a 62' Lagoon catamaran! |
When anchoring on the St. John River we always head to an anchorage just off the River where we can see ships coming and going to the ocean but we're behind Blount Island where we aren't waked. It's also a short ride to Palms Camp boat launch ramp where we can tie the dinghy and walk to get some exercise. On one of our walks we passed a pile of yard debris with bananas on the stalk.
Not knowing if they're bananas, plantains or some ornamental banana we brought them home and have them hanging on the rail. (Update: I just went back to take this picture and noticed some of the bananas have turned yellow and soft! And...they taste like a banana! They're edible!)
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| Heavy rains and high tides makes the getting to shore a challenge sometimes from the launch ramp/dinghy dock. Jerry takes the rail. I take off my shoes and walk through the water just above my ankles. |
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| An osprey sits on the top of the church steeple as we walk by. |
The boat launch ramp makes a convenient way for friends to stop! Jerry picked up our friend Chris who came for a visit. I had been saving some salt I gathered at Buena Vista in the Ragged Islands in the Bahamas. Chris is a chef. I always collect salt in the Ragged Islands when I can to save for Chris. Chris and his wife Amy had a sailboat and cruised the Bahamas with us years ago. We treated him to lunch - Hoffman coneys and hot dogs (from Syracuse). And what professional chef could pass up a can of baked beans to go with the dogs? It was great to see Chris.
Here's a view of the anchorage behind Blount Island. Lots of rain!
More sailing friends from the Bahamas came to see us! Conor and Stephanie, the couple that got married in the Ragged Islands in 2020, sold their sailboat and they actually live a couple of blocks from Chris. They came out one evening with their schnoodle Toby. I made pizza for dinner. They arrived on the first day of sun after many days and nights of heavy rain and gray skies. We sat in the cockpit to visit, soak up the sun, and eat. It was nice to catch up on what's going on in their busy lives.
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| Conor, Toby and Stephanie. Toby wants to come below and help make pizza! |
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| Stephanie, Toby, Karen, Conor and sunshine! |
Conor showed up later in the week and invited one of us (that's all there was room for) to see what his surveying job entails. Jerry watched as Conor surveyed an area of the St. John's River and compiled a report.
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| Jerry and Toby on the bow of Conor's survey boat. |
Ralph and Leslie, more friends from the Ragged Islands, live on their boat Now and Zen on the St. John's River during the summer. They drove their car out to meet us at the boat launch ramp which has Palms Camp Restaurant next to the ramp. More reminiscing and catching up over fish dishes for lunch. Fantastic food and conversation. Ralph and Leslie like to explore the most remote parts of the Bahamas, spend a lot of time in the water spearing lobster and fish, and make friends with the locals. With their catamaran with a shallow draft they're able to anchor in places we could never get to. If you're ever in the Jacksonville, FL area in the summer they use their boat to charter. You can sign up and go for a sunset cruise on the St. John's.
Our sailing plans were to wait for the perfect window to head further south. Those plans were encouraged by the forecast - a cold front would have temperatures in the low 40s after it went through in northern Florida. With light winds again, we headed out the inlet and had another pleasant overnight downwind sail to Fort Pierce. How nice to sit out in the cockpit in t-shirts and shorts! We rolled up our sleeping bags and put them back in storage. One more day of motor sailing down the intracoastal waterway with the wind on the stern and we made it to the anchorage in Stuart, FL.
Our friends Dale and Roni came out for dinner one night and we've been in to visit Ken and "Aunt Susan" (we can see their house from the anchorage). We'll also catch up with our friend Arnaud who lives over in nearby Manatee Pocket. And now we have bikes so we can get around! We were walking one morning, discussing bicycles, looking for a yard sale. We passed a house with the garage door open and a guy cleaning his garage. We turned around, asked "any chance you have any bikes you'd like to sell?" and he says, "you can have this one". Jerry pushed my "new" bike back to the dinghy dock - a kid's 24" wheel purple bicycle with a luggage rack and flat tires. We pumped up the tires and I was ready to roll!
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| Working on my "new" bike on the aft deck. |
I found another bike for $20 on Facebook marketplace. The nice guy delivered the bike to the park where we tie the dinghy. It's a little rusty and it needed a tube but everything worked on it. Now we have transportation! Only a dinghy ride to visit Ken and Aunt Susan. A dinghy ride to the park and short bike ride to visit Dale and Roni. The only drawback of course is the traffic in Fl. Sailing on the ocean is a safe place to be compared to riding a bike along the sidewalks and roads in Stuart. We're being extra cautious.
Today we're cooking a 10 lb turkey with stuffing in our boat sized oven. It takes up the whole oven! Jerry made the cranberry sauce this morning. No pie - our apples are gone but we have a box of cookies, cranberry relish, and chocolate fudge from Aunt Susan. Here's wishing you a peaceful Thanksgiving!
Karen and Jerry
