Greetings from Ft. Pierce, FL!

Wednesday, January 16, 2019

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IMPORTANT NOTE:  Several people have apparently tried to post messages 

on the blog, but for some reason they are not showing up.  I have no idea why 

this works for some people and not others - if I find out I'll let you know.  

Please feel free to text or email us if your messages aren't coming through 

on the blog - we really do love hearing from y'all!

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Hello again, dear friends!  As you can see from the blog title, we made it to Ft. Pierce, FL today.  We anchored once again and got a beautiful, scenic spot that is also close to a lot of interesting places by dinghy.  We decided to hang out here for another day to see what trouble we can get into, so my next blog will hopefully include some pics of our adventures here.

Cheers!

Our southward journey continues to be delightfully uneventful, and all systems remain fully operational (knock on wood).  We had a little scare today when an SOS alarm went off on the radio (apparently when any vessel within our reception range makes a distress call, it triggers a VERY LOUD alarm on our radio).  As it turned out, it seems that a passing boat headed northbound on the ICW seems to have inadvertently triggered their SOS signal several times (thank goodness that's all it was).  We also had a very inconsiderate sport fishing boat pass us at close range and high speed unexpectedly, causing a slight furniture rearrangement, but nothing damaged or broken.

Another beautiful sunset tonight - from our Ft. Pierce anchorage

Transversing the Haulover Canal

Another view from the Haulover Canal

We had anchored in Titusville for two nights and were able to connect with some friends we met during our last ICW trip, which was really fun.  They live permanently on their boat but are considering doing some "land cruising" in an RV in the near future as well.  They had us over for dinner on board and we were able to catch up on all our life adventures.

From Space View Park - great view of Cape Canaveral launches from here

On Titusville waterfront

Apollo program tribute (they also had sections for Mercury, Gemini and the Space Shuttle programs)

Our plan is to continue south to Stuart, FL, where we will make a westward turn to cut across Florida, instead of going all the way around the Keys like we did on our previous trip.  We expect to be on the Gulf Coast by Saturday evening if all goes as planned.

Thug the Cruising Pug striking a pose in the dinghy

That's it for now - hope everyone on the homefront is doing well and staying warm.  The weather has been fairly good, but we haven't had any truly warm days yet (still in jeans and sweatshirts for the most part).  We're looking forward to some better weather soon, though.  Wish you were here!

: )  Mark, Sheryl and Thug

Book count:

Mark - 1

Sheryl - 3