12/13/22

The last time I posted we were in Jacksonville, FL heading to Fort Pierce.  We had a fast downwind sail!  Here's a video Jerry took.  Downwind means north wind.  Even though we're in Florida it feels damp and chilly sailing along the coast.  In the video you'll see the blankets we hang at the aft of the dodger to protect us from the wind when we're on watch. 

We anchored in Fort Pierce and went to shore to try to find the place that makes authentic roti such as Jerry remembers from his time in Trinidad.

Chicken Roti from Caribbean Cuisine on Avenue D in Fort Pierce

According to Wikipedia: Originating in the Caribbean with Indian roots, a roti is a wrap style sandwich filled with either curried or sometimes stewed meats or vegetables wrapped inside a dhalpuri,^[3] paratha, or dosti roti.^[4]   You can have chicken roti with or without bones.  Other choices vegetable, mutton, shrimp.  We always opt for the boneless chicken roti - the natives prefer a chicken roti with bones to suck the marrow out as they eat.  Jerry says it was one of the best he's ever had!  And as you can see - very filling.  I ended up having roti for lunch the next day as well.  Delicious!

We moved from Fort Pierce to Stuart where we spent time visiting with Aunt Susan and Ken.  They live in a waterfront house directly across from where we anchor.  Handy!  Dale and Roni live a couple of miles down the waterway towards the Okechobee.  About 10 minutes by dinghy at top speed.  We enjoyed Thanksgiving with Dale and Roni and another good friend, Arno.  You may remember hearing about Arno as Jerry met Arno and his daughter Benedict almost 20 years ago when they were anchored next to each other at Ocean City, MD.

Making apple pie to take to Dale and Roni's for Thanksgiving.

We use Jerry's grandmother's recipe.  He prepares the filling.  I make the dough.

Here's the view from the anchorage at Stuart looking across towards Ken and Aunt Susan's place.

Ken and Aunt Susan's place is around the corner to the right past all of the festive lights.

Another view from the anchorage looking west after sunset.

There are a number of boats at this anchorage that are neglected.  The big trawler in the picture below is one of them.  Every morning just after sunrise flocks of grackles invade the anchorage.  Anywhere from 50 - 500 grackles swarm in.  They flit from boat to boat landing and making a racket.  We spend an hour shooing them off our mast.  Then they all decide to leave the area and don't return until the next morning.

Frenzied Grackle chaos every morning in Stuart.

Between our walks around town, fixing a few things on board, and visiting Jerry finds time to work on an outboard someone was throwing out.  He loves a challenge.

Of course he had it running in no time.

We also bought a $20 bike from the yard sale at Dale and Roni's park so Jerry will have transportation while I'm in NY for the holidays.

Jerry tuned up the bike, added a luggage rack (a donation from Dale's bike parts), a milk crate from the side of the road, and he's on his way to UPS to mail a present I bought for his Mom. 

As you can see, the weather has been fabulous!  A few rainy days when we first arrived in Stuart but then sunshine and 80 degree days for the whole time!

Our friends we saw in Jacksonville, Dustyn and Brandon, came up the St. Lucie River to Stuart to anchor next to us.  So nice to spend time with them again!  And their dog Rita.  They had boat parts delivered to Ken and Susan's and Brandon borrowed Jerry's bike to go get more parts.  That's the nice thing about Stuart - there are a number of marine chandleries nearby.  After a few days of visiting they were on their way to the Bahamas.   

Dustyn, Brandon and I shared the wine Stephanie left onboard when we were in Jacksonville!

Our time in Stuart was coming to an end - I had a plane ticket to fly home from West Palm Beach for the holidays.  Again, our friend Dale helped us out by lending us his van.  We made our way to the grocery stores, gas station, propane depot filling Dale's van.  We'll be ready to head to the Bahamas when I return in 2023.

From the store, to the van to the dinghy to the boat!  Load #1.

One last trip to the boat!

Okay, you may ask why we're transporting a set of aluminum rims to the boat.  Jerry said, see if you can find a set of rims for the Airstream here in FL where they're not all corroded like what we see in NY.  Ta da!  A set of aluminum rims from Port St. Lucie picked up courtesy of Dale's van.  Jerry cleaned them up a little and then took them to store at Ken and Susan's for the winter.  Doesn't seem right to sail to the Bahamas and back with a set of rims on board.  We'll have to pick them up when we return from the Bahamas and then take them for a sail.

Our last night in Stuart - we joined Dale and Roni for their annual Christmas caroling expedition via golf carts.  Pizza and ice cream sundaes after the caroling.

Here we go, up and down the lanes of the Riverland Park with a gaggle of golf carts!

Roni and Dale all decked out caroling to their neighbors.  Dale wearing his "Rebel without a Claus shirt"

Thanks for the cap loan and for inviting us Dale and Roni!  

We left Stuart with full sail up and little wind.  Exiting at St. Lucie Inlet can be a challenge with the current ripping in or out.  This time the current was slightly against us and a large NE swell was curling at ocean's edge.  Jerry gauged the swell to be about 9 feet with huge curlers breaking across the inlet in sets of 3 every 2 minutes.  We almost expected to see surfers.  We looked at each other and thought maybe we should turn back.  But as luck would have it a big set broke right in front of us as we approached the inlet prompting Jerry to push the throttle down as hard as she would go racing through the treacherous inlet to reach the calmer waters of the deep ocean.  Phew!!  With the wind behind us, the mainsail with a preventer to keep it from flopping around with the big swells, we made our way to West Palm.  Jerry will be here until the new year while I'm back home with Mom and Dad for the holidays.  If you're in the area - give him a call!

Looking towards the city of West Palm from Persephone at anchor.

West Palm Beach at night

Wishing you the best for the holidays!  Write when you have a chance to share what's going on in your lives.

Karen & Jerry

SV Persephone

PS SPOT GPS tracking (top right hand corner) shows our current position here at West Palm.  Thanks Brian for sponsoring this month!