Juno and Fort Pierce

Heading south to Juno

Then back up to Ft. Pierce

Due to having guests on board I've been remiss about logging our travels. We've gone from Stuart to Juno one day, then up to Fort Pierce today. But since this basically means we traveled the same waterway twice (first southbound, then northbound), one entry is probably enough to get the gist of it.

Nature areas on one side...

We traveled this section only once prior, but we were so green (at least I was) that I don't recall it at all. Protected mostly, since the ICW runs along between land and barrier islands, with long stretches that alternate from billion dollar home to natural foliage, the latter a habitat for manatee in the water and wild life on land. For us that meant r-e-a-l  s-l-o-w for the nature parks (manatees ain't quick movin' critters) to 25 MPH zones by the houses.

A few dolphins crossed our wake, but never joined us in cruising. I recall from last year that the Atlantic dolphins are not as fun-seeking as their gulf side counterparts.

Palatial estates on the other.

Big winds on both travel days. It didn't affect us much in Juno, since the marina was very sheltered, so docking was trivial. However. Docking in Fort Pierce was another matter altogether.

The winds had been steady from the south. They wanted to put us on a t-head that ran north and south. Peachy! Just do the Poughkeepsie Manuever and slider her right in there. And, during the last 10 minutes of approach, the winds shifted to due west, pushing us away from the pier. Man, it was a struggle. We got a dockhand lines, and I had to blast engines to bring the nose over without losing control of the stern. It took a half hour to get her done! But we did, with no damage to us, the pier, or any boats around.

And that is all that matters.