Eau Galle to Westland Marina in Titusville, Florida

 We had nice weather for our last day of cruising to Westland Marina in Titusville. We have a spot a the dock before we get hauled out of the water on Thursday. Lots to do to get the boat ready to leave in the boatyard for hurricane season. Boat neighbors said there have been alligators in the marina near the boat travel lift and a few manatees.

Perfect pose

Fort Pierce to Eau Galle, Florida

 We got an early start to get under the one last drawbridge on our way from Fort Pierce to Indian Harbour Beach. They are just now starting on replacing that drawbridge with a high-rise bridge to be completed in 2 years. We had a nice cruise to our anchorage by the library and Squid Lips. We were happy to just chill out after a lot of miles.

Tried to get  a picture of all four in the nest

Our heart was set on breakfast at Oh Biscuit and we arrived shortly after they opened at 8 am for a yummy breakfast. Since there will be a big blow on Saturday we decided to head on to the Westland Marina to be a the dock before we get hauled on Thursday.

Still on our to-do list is a beer at Intracoastal Brewery

Eau Galle Art District Park

Stuart to Fort Pierce, Florida

 After breakfast and our walk, we had to wait for the drawbridge before leaving Stuart. A parade of boats came in from the inlet. We had a pleasant trip to Fort Pierce and are anchored off the causeway bridge near Hutchison Island across from the Fort Pierce City Marina ready to head to Archies' Bar for happy hour.

Island near St. Lucie Inlet serving as a rookery

Fast-moving board sailor

We went ashore for breakfast at Florida Coffee Company which they have redone and are now serving delicious crepes. We walked to the marine supply place for windshield wipers. After our long hike, we stopped at Sailfish Brewery for a cold beer before heading back to the boat. We had a thunderstorm blow through so we stayed put instead of heading for Vero Beach.

Truck loads of oranges coming into be be squeezed into juice

The City Marina has a great dinghy dock

A wonderful orange ale

In the center of the round about

Peck Lake to Stuart, Florida

 We left Peck Lake headed for St.Lucie Inlet then past Manatee Pocket to Stuart. We had to wait for the drawbridge near Sunset Bay Marina. We anchored across from the mooring field and headed up Frazier Creek to Shepherd's Park in the dinghy. This is a beautiful park with a seawall with cleats and the Stuart Health Walk starts here and connects up with the Riverwalk. We headed straight to Luna's Italian Restaurant for a deep-dish Sicilian pizza. We beat the crowd and were the only ones at their outdoor dining. We checked out Maria's Cafe for breakfast in the morning.

Orange headed lizards

Welcome to Stuart

Fishing pier under the bridge

Beautiful RiverWalk

Free tourist dock

Stage for Sunday music in the park

Spectacular Poinciana tree in bloom

Loveley downtown historic area

Historic theater still hosting bands

Sailfish walking tour

Shepherd's park

We had a peaceful evening and woke up early to dinghy ashore and walk to breakfast. We enjoyed breakfast at Marie's Cafe and completed our 2.5 mile walk before pulling anchor and heading to Fort Pierce.

Ducks in the tree at the dinghy dock

Fragrant star jasmine along the health walk

Nautical mermaid near the marina

Better view of lizard on the boardwalk

Art class in the park

Hobe Sound to Peck Lake near Jupiter, Florida

 We had rain showers off and on all day. The black clouds surrounded us and we waited until the skies lightened up to go the short distance through the Hobe Sound drawbridge and over to Peck Lake, We had planned to go ashore along the sandy beach along Hobe Sound since there was an extra-low tide but the rain kept us indoors. We have anchored off the sandy beach of the wildlife preserve with a short trail to go to the Atlantic Beach with eleven other boats. There are rain chances most of tomorrow as well.

Sandy beach at Peck Lake

View across the Intracoastal waterway

We had a lazy morning while the clouds cleared out and then we headed to the beach after lunch. We walked five miles in a new direction to the south. The water was rough and the beach was covered in sargassum seaweed. We found two hamburger beans and some shells. It was cloudy as we headed back to the boat with black clouds looming. More chances of rain are on for tonight. 

Lots of Portuguese men of war washed ashore

Happy to see half a dozen sea turtle nests marked off

Most of the sand dunes in Hobe Sound Wildlife Refuge were marked off-limits

Shorebirds darting along the waterline

Finally, a beach to seek treasures

Pelicans diving in the surf

Pelicans soaring overhead

Seagrapes along the shore to tie the dinghy to

Sunday was another beautiful day as the clouds moved off. We went ashore after lunch and hiked 5 miles to the north and ended up at the bench at the kayak launch at the Hobe Sound Wildlife Refuge. We found a hamburger sea bean, some shells and driftwood and some sea glass. At high tide, before we left a sailboat ran aground coming into Peck Lake and now with the tide going out, the boat is tilted on its side. We were hoping the boat wakes would push her off but we will just have to see when the tide rises.

Beach goes on for miles before the inlet

Taking a selfie while we take a rest break on the bench

We woke up to a calm morning so we took the dinghy north to Port Lucie Inlet Park and tied up at the dock. We took one of their trash baskets and hiked to the point while picking up beach trash and treasures. They had built up the beach and extended it out by bringing in dredged sand. We were the only folks walking the beach and it was a beautiful day. After the chance of rain passed, we pulled anchor and went up to the inlet, and headed towards Stuart.

Lettuce Lake to Hobe Sound, Florida

 The boat wakes from the fishing boats woke us up at daybreak so we pulled anchor and headed for the first of many drawbridges. We had to wait for the first two to open on schedule but many of the others we were low enough to pass under. We got surprised with some thundershowers in West Palm Beach and put on our rain ponchos to continue on. We were thinking about stopping there but the band stage was set up for Sunfest along with tents and temporary docks and the music was blaring and we knew it would get crazy so we continued on. We are anchored by ourselves at one of the several anchorages along Hobe Sound and so peaceful to get out of the concrete canyon of rebounding boat wakes 

We slowed down for three manatees that swam by the stern of the boat

Controlling speed even on the waterway

Southern Boulevard bridge we had to pass under the one under construction and the temporary one

In Palm Beach everything is large

Sailboat masts as tall as the high rise building

Sunny Islands to Lettuce Lake, Florida

 We made a run into the Marine Police Station to drop garbage, get water and run to Publix for beer before we pulled anchor to head south under the closest bridge by Mount Sinai Hospital on a new route. We were able to make it under most of the drawbridges with our radar arch down. We left around 2 pm hoping to get through the concrete canyon where the boat wakes rebound off the seawalls and through Fort Lauderdale before sundown to anchor at Lettuce Lake. The boat traffic is crazy and we wanted to be passed here before the weekend.

Interesting house with a tower with the two office towers behind

Amazing hydroplanes