More experiences

We arrived in North Lake Worth around 6 PM on Tuesday. The anchorage is very large and open so we didn't have any problem finding a place to anchor. On Wednesday we were able to dinghy into a spot up a small creek by a bridge with a small beach to land the dinghy. Once up on the road it was a short walk to the Publix grocery store and some other shops in a strip mall. The anchorage was so nice we decided to stay for a few nights.

We left North Lake Worth on Friday and headed for Vero Beach. We didn't have as many bridges to contend with so our progress was pretty good. There were 4 bridges that opened on a schedule and 4 that opened on demand. We were averaging around 7 knots most of the way. At times we would be down to 5 or up to 8 depending on the current coming in or going out at the different inlets we would pass. We stopped overnight in Ft. Pierce and anchored to the south of Causeway Island. The wind was from the south and the anchorage was open so it was kind of choppy until the sun went down and the wind died down. There were about 7 other boats anchored there also.

On Saturday we awoke at 6 AM and prepared to make the run the final 17 miles to Vero Beach. This part of the ICW is made up of the Indian River and is quite wide, however the ICW channel is only about 100 feet wide at most points. In the channel the depths are anywhere from 9-16 feet. Just outside the channel the depths can be 4 feet or less. Our draft is around 5 feet so we definitely have to stay in the channel. There were lots of local power boats out and it seemed that they were racing to the Ft. Pierce inlet to see who could get out to catch the first fish. Only a few would slow down when they pass. The others go by with big wakes that cause us slow sailboats to rock and roll with the wakes.

We arrived at Vero Beach in about 2 1/2 hours. To get into the marina you have to go under a 65 foot bridge and then immediately turn into the marina channel. Right as we went under the bridge my Garmin chartplotter gave me an error message about losing satellite connection. That and a marina welcome sign diverted my attention from the channel and the south wind and current swept me right into the shoaling. Yep, hard aground. We tried for about 20 minutes to try and back off with no luck. I called TowBoatUS to come pull us off. They were there in about 30 minutes and pulled us right out of the mud. The TowBoatUS guy told us that if we would have grounded about 50 feet further to the east we would have been on some rocks instead of in the mud. Once in the marina we picked up a mooring and had a drink. Later when I was talking to the marina staff they told me that they call that corner Gold Mine Corner. I guess we weren't the first or be the last to ground there. And to top off all of that we were boarded by the Florida State Fish and Game officers to check our sewer system to make sure we aren't pumping anything overboard. I am actually surprised it took this long for us to get boarded. We have been in Florida waters for almost two months now.

Today we walked to the actual Beach. It is a very long beautiful sand beach. Not crowded at all. It was a vero pretty beach

We are staying here until Tuesday when we will leave to head further north.