Wednesday - Friday, April 3 - 5, 2018

We departed Old Cove Marina under clear skies for our 49-mile trip to Fort Pierce. Much of the trip is in no wake zones, so our normally slow speed of 10 miles-per-hour was reduced to 6.5 mph. Lots of nice homes along the way and quite few boaters.

Harbor Town Marina in Fort Pierce is a large marina located near the Fort Pierce inlet. The quick access to the ocean makes it a busy fishing port (both sport fishermen and commercial boats). 

Fort Pierce is a nice small town, without a whole lot going on. This gave us chance to get some boat-chores done. We were fortunate to have a very good restaurant/bar next to the marina called The Cove. They had bands during the evening. Our first night there they had an “old guys” band playing hits from the 60’s and 70’s, and doing a really good job at it. The next couple nights the bands were not quite as good, but it was still fun.

The weather forecast encouraged us to stay an extra day. Good thing we did. We were hit with an impressive thunderstorm during the middle of the afternoon. Sue was doing laundry at the marina’s main building when the storm erupted. Basically, it formed right over Fort Pierce, so by the time the storm warning came through our phones (see photo/screenshot), it was already obvious that we in a strong storm. Sue had to wait out the storm in the marina building. Brian and Bo had to batten down the hatches and make things secure. The high winds caused the boat to rock quite a bit even though we were tied to the dock. Bo quickly positioned himself in his newly designated storm shelter (under the galley table – see photos). 

Brian has always enjoyed thunderstorms since his childhood days on the farm. In addition to the entertainment value, the high-winds and rain did a great job removing salt spray deposits from the boat. One more boat chore off the list.