ice in freezer, lines cast off, in the ICW

8/31 --- 918 miles to go until Norfolk
We looked at our charts, and realized our next entrance from the Atlantic would be the Barge Canal north of Coco Florida, which is where we wanted to stop. So we stayed inside. This part of the ICW is the Indian River ..( information taken from Wikipedia). The water is that caramel coffee, lite cream frothy color,  wild mangrove or homes, but not great big cities skylines, narrow canals and cement walls,we saw in Fort Lauderdale or Miami. Pelicans are around, fish jump for no reason, and occasionally we see pieces and parts of dolphins.

Again some interesting things, speeding boats looking at us like we are a long lost pirate ship, and no I was not wearing a two piece suit (aggh some of the people in the passing boats were...). This stretch has fixed bridges and only one lift bridge. Traffic is light for a holiday week end.... there is always tomorrow. We are going north, to Coco Marina, we stayed there in 2012. Get laundry done, rest then make a long run to get out of Florida and get a weather window to go outside for Georgia.

Our mast is officially 62'4" but we have antennas, and a wind gauge so we think its just shy of 64' We have tested that theory as the marker boards on the bridges have listed 65' and 64' and we heard no scrapes, nor did anything come raining down on us. We did scare the pigeons off the ledge.


The Indian River is a 121-mile (195 km) long^[1] brackish lagoon in Florida,^[2] and is part of the Indian River Lagoon system which forms the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. It was originally named Rio de Ais after the Ais Indian tribe, who lived along the east coast of Florida, but was later given its current name. The Indian River extends southward from the Ponce de Leon inlet in New Smyrna Beach in Volusia County southward and across the Haulover Canal and along the western shore of Merritt Island. The Banana River flows into the Indian River on the island's south side. The Indian River continues southward to St. Lucie Inlet.^[3] At certain seasons of the year, bridges have tended to impede the flow of red drift algae, resulting in an odor of hydrogen sulfide in the area.^[4]

leaving Fort Pierce Marina

sun rise 

17th street Bridge 64' clearance 

makes you hold your breath !

boat bill boards ????

there were 3 boats fishing in front of this waiting crowd

I think we passed this going south 

this was going more sideways than forward.
the wind and current did not make this an easy move

have no idea how much room we had to spare 64' on the tide board

these pigeons didn't trust it and took to the air

For you Patty and Dale 

sand bar beach boat party with a storm coming on fast

wind went to 20 kts with cooling rain.
just got everything below and hatches closed
15 min. later all gone