Today we plan. We have the dry storage prepared, the way to get there, the maintenance to be done. We looked at flights to get me home and Scott to work and booked those. We managed to arrange a taxi to take us to the airport from the marina. Scott prepared some last minute work plans . We just have to arrange a hotel and rental car for Scott and I have a pick up at the airport. It may sound like a lot in a couple days but in reality it has to be done. So it will. Scott wants to change the oil in the engines. We need 10 gallons. He figured out that AutoZone would have it in stock and they do. The closest store is about 7 miles away. A taxi gets him there and within about 45 minutes he’s back.
We decide that today we will take a couple hours just to enjoy being on the Atlantic. We travel out to St. Lucie Inlet area and head south along the Intracoastal Waterway. While on the ICW we see the mega yachts and multimillion dollar homes. They are stunning to look at. We travel south for awhile until we decide there in an anchor spot to check out next time we come. It has mangroves all around and manatee zones areas. It is protected from the wind from all but north winds. Some sailboats are already here. You will rock from the wake of the boats that go by but it is a great spot to enjoy the afternoon…..in the future. For now we have decided to head to our dry storage facility back on St. Lucie Canal in a little town called Indiantown. This facility has been recommended by other Loopers from this area, and it’s in fresh water.
So we head back on our path from yesterday. That okay that we are turning around. Now we can say we made it to the coast, from Nashville. No manatees, horses or alligators today though. We do see the flying fish a lot. We have to find out their name.
We didn’t want to spend our last night on the water at a marina. So we stopped at the dolphin tie ups at the St. Lucie Lock on the west side. There is a campground here with several RV’s and tents. We find a couple dolphins to tie to but they are different from the last ones. These ones have the cleats really low so we can’t use them. No big boat could. So I spend about 10 minutes trying to lasso the top of the one to tie the bow to. A video would have went viral. The campers had a good view of us trying to “catch the dolphin”. We did it and settled in for the night. FYI be sure to have your gen facing away from those campers if you tie here. It will be an annoyance to them.
We enjoyed our last night on the water in style. Finally able to use our screens instead of canvas because it has become warm enough at night. We BBQ our dinner and watch the sun set. Knowing this portion of the journey is coming to an end is bittersweet. I miss home, the kids, the dog, the routine. By this weekend I’ll be wishing I was back on the water.
