Hollywood City, Lantana Anchorage, Peck Lake Anchorage to Ft. Pierce Marina

When we got ready to leave on Monday morning the winds were blowing hard at 20-25. We had already talked through our departure and what I would need to do in order for us to stay off the boat beside us and protect our swim platform from the boat across the fairway. Thank heaven that Jane and Ben showed up to send us off. As we were pulling out of the slip the wind caught the front of the boat and pushed us hard into the wall. If it hadn't been for Ben pushing us back out we would have probably slammed our bow hard into it and done some major damage. Dave quickly changed the plan and decided to back out the fairway rather than try and turn around in the small area. Talk about stressful! We were so grateful for our friends and sad to leave them at the same time! Thanks again Ben and Jane!

We were going to take on fuel and pump out but the winds were so strong we decided to skip that and move on. We knew that we would be more protected once we got behind the tall buildings facing the ocean. We ended up having to go through 19 bridges- 9 of which we needed to wait for openings. Most are timed to open on either the hour or half-hour, or quarter and quarter past hours. Some bridges that we thought we needed to have opened we were able to sneak under and only one did our AIS antenna hit! No damage though as it is like a whip and bounces right back. We covered 41 miles that day in just over 7 hours. We were exhausted and happy to put the anchor down in Lantana, FL right beside a fun looking restaurant The Key Lime House. We were too tired to put down the dinghy so we grilled out and went to bed early. 

We were underway at 7:40 the next day and went through 13 bridges and waited for 2 openings. We were traveling with a sport fishing boat- Why Knott. I felt so bad for him because he obviously is one of those boats that are used to going fast out on the ocean but we assumed he was traveling the ICW because the winds continue to howl out there! We had many slow Manatee Zones but it wasn't as stressful as Monday had been. We pulled into a beautiful anchorage that already had 5 sailboats there. Active Captain said to treat the approach like a wine glass- travel down the stem of the glass and you should have at least 5' of water depth. Then when you reach a certain point it opens up and you can anchor pretty much anywhere. We had trouble setting the anchor for the first time since starting the Loop and had to pull it back in and find a different spot. Second time it went down and stuck. After having a cold beverage we put the dinghy down and went over to the beach. Hobe Sound is another Florida State Preserve and is absolutely beautiful. When we first got in the anchorage there were a lot of day visitors parked along the edge. But they all cleared out by the time we got over there. We had the beach to ourselves. At first, I would avoid the water but then decided to take off my shoes and just enjoy it! It was so warm and it felt so wonderful just walking along. There was no way we would swim as the surf was still very rough and the rip current warning was still in effect. But we really didn't mind as it was so pleasant to just be back at the beach! The water was as warm as I always remembered Sunset Beach being! It was one of my favorite anchorages ever!

Today (Wednesday) we left early again and came into Ft. Pierce. We wanted extra time to explore the area and clean up the boat. We had a great lunch at their restaurant/Tiki Bar on site and then walked the town. There really isn't that much here but we hit a nice Farmer's Market and I was able to restock the fresh vegetables. 

Well that's it for awhile- I had to take advantage of this wonderful wi-fi source that is directly behind our boat to catch up on all the blogs!

 Another cool looking Florida bridge

 Beach walkin!

 We think this is a fast ferry to the islands

 I think we have found where the top .1% hang out. 

 Saint Lucie Nuclear plant. I think Brunswick in NC is the last one left on our trip.

 Deciding whether to ask for a bridge opening requires a bit of math and decision making. The posted height for a bridge is at the " Low Steel" on the bridge. That is usually at the outside of the bridge. Most bridges are built with an arc. That sets up the bridge height in the center to be 3 to5 feet higher than the advertised low steel level.There are height boards in the water that let you know, based on actual tide what the low steel level is. Fryedaze needs 22 feet. So If low steel is 18 feet and the center arc of the bridge is another 4 feet we can go for it. It this picture we had 3 inches to spare.

The laws of Tonnage ruled the day in this instance . We went around this big boy.

Peck Lake webcam. Fryedaze in the lower right.