We departed Indian Key on Wed the 24th, motoring into relatively calm conditions. Now we were on a bit of a schedule as we wanted to visit with friends who were in Florida from Texas and only available on Sat evening the 27th. With good conditions, we could make it to New Smyna by Saturday afternoon.
The weather gods were cooperating. We motored all day up to Miami and made the turn to the north up the Florida east coast at 6pm. The weather continued to look good up the east coast so we decided to not stop for the night and continue offshore to Fort Pierce.
Unlike during our trip south, there were no restrictions on the parking at the public dock with no special events going on. We left plenty of room for another boat to tie up but we were the only boat there for Friday and Saturday. Our fender boards provided us good protection alongside the dock pylons.
Its always a treat to visit with Tara and Carol, where the food is delicious.
The weather gods were cooperating. We motored all day up to Miami and made the turn to the north up the Florida east coast at 6pm. The weather continued to look good up the east coast so we decided to not stop for the night and continue offshore to Fort Pierce.
Most of the pleasure boats were off the water by 6pm but we still had to watch out for commercial vessels coming and going from Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach inlets. Having an AIS receiver allows us to see their location and course and help stay out of their way. Additionally, our experience is these commercial vessels are very professionally captained and we watched several alter course and speed to not interfere with our sailing course where we had the right of way. Here is the Magic of Disney departing from Miami right as we passed northward across the channel.
The advantage of heading north up the Florida Coast is the Gulf Stream is there to aid you. As we angled eastward off Miami we began slowly picking up the northbound current at about 5 miles out. First one half knot, then 1kt, then building to 3kts as we passed by West Palm Beach. Here is a photo of our chart plotter showing speed made over the ground. Our boat's theoretical max speed through the water is 7.2kts. Here we are going 8.4kts over the ground. Later this would build to 9kts over the ground while we made 6kts through the water. These favorable conditions were speeding us along towards our destination.
As we sped along, the wind slowly died - good for a comfortable ride but bad for making good time. There were no complaints from the crew though who have experienced far worse conditions in the Gulf Stream (and would again later in the trip).
All good things must pass and as we passed by West Palm Beach making 9kts and now had to turn to the northwest to proceed to the Fort Pierce inlet we quickly came out of the Gulf Stream. Within a couple hours we were completely out of the stream and back to a much more normal 6.5kts. As we approached Fort Pierce at dawn, there were several other sailboats coming in from the Bahamas, also timing their arrival for dawn.
While it was prudent planning to time our arrival at the inlet just after dawn, it also matched up with maximum outgoing current flow of up to 3kts. Fortunately their was no significant opposing wind so the entrance was just slow and bumpy, not dangerous. Once we were inside the inlet and into smoother waters, we were greeted by the US Coast Guard, conducting routine safety inspections of vessels. Since it has been over 10 yrs since our last boarding, it was our turn. No problems with the inspection as we are well stocked with safety gear. Rivah was initially not happy with a strange vessel pulling up alongside but she settled down quickly and let the USCG crew do their job. Within 15 mins we were back on our way up the ICW.
We made it to Vero Beach before 10am for a quick pit stop for fuel, water and oil. It was a well choreographed stop by Sue and we were quickly on our way further north towards New Smyrna and it was still only Thursday morning. Lots of time to make our Saturday commitment with friends. Thursday evening found us at Cocoa Beach where there is a very convenient anchorage just off the east side of the ICW behind the Cocoa Beach bridge with protection from the southeast winds. We spent a quiet night there and were off early Friday morning for New Smyrna.
The weather continued to be cooperative and we had an easy motoring trip up the ICW to New Smyrna arriving in mid-afternoon. We were greeted with construction on the bridge but there was ample room for one-way traffic through the bridge.
Unlike during our trip south, there were no restrictions on the parking at the public dock with no special events going on. We left plenty of room for another boat to tie up but we were the only boat there for Friday and Saturday. Our fender boards provided us good protection alongside the dock pylons.
Its always a treat to visit with Tara and Carol, where the food is delicious.
