Discovering Fort Pierce, Florida

Fort Pierce, Florida

 At 11:00 am on March 29^th we decided to leave Lake Worth and head North to Fort Pierce to await our haul out day. We had planned to head outside and do a run up the coast but as luck would have it the winds from the previous day had left large swells. We got out on the ocean, sized thing up and decided to turn around and head back inside. Mr. Weatherman is now official off my Christmas card list. Just as we were headed towards the first opening bridge they announced that the bridge was closed until further notice. Determined to continue we dropped the radar antennae and slipped under the bridge while the other sailboats and sportsfish waited. By 18:30 we approached Fort Pierce municipal marina which looked nothing like the pictures in the cruising guide. We later found out that the docks had been destroyed by not one but two hurricanes (Jean & Fiona) within weeks of each other that were both a direct hit in the area. We picked this marina because we liked the long approaching dock wall which was no longer there, but now we were committed to entering inside the harbour hoping there would be enough turning room for us. As we approached dock and tied up our shore lines on March 29^th we realized that this would be our time at dock since December 8^th. We hooked up to shore power and turned on the air conditioning and had a LONG hot shower. We liked it so much we stayed for 4 nights enjoying the luxuries of shore power and television access. We enjoyed dinner ashore at the local waterside Tiki Hut, borrowed the car from the staff at the marina office to do groceries and discovered the art walk featuring local artist that had crafted benches and statues throughout the down town area. We met up with Maggie and Branko from H2Obo (water-hobo) formerly of Port Credit, ON that we met in the fall cruising south in Southport, NC.  They had spent the winter in the Abacos in the Bahamas and had crossed back to Florida to be hauled out and provision before heading to Bermuda, the Azores to Croatia and points beyond. We took part in the First Friday Festival in Port Pierce (happens the first Friday of every month) with bands, food, drinks and craft displays.  We discovered Cobb General Store with their selection of 500 beers. The person working in the store was working his way through the selection and had become quite knowledgeable on his stock. After a quick assessment he hand picked a six pack for Ted of stouts and porters.  This is definitely a place to come back to.