PEKABU 3 Cruising: 2023 - 2024 Cruise ~ Weeks 10-12 ~ December Fort Pierce

Christmas lights up the marina

Pete continues to do well, but the soreness continues (which is expected at this time). Staples were removed during the first week of December and he is going to PT 3 times a week. We opted out of 1st Friday Evening on the Square, with all those yummy, food trucks, as well as the Saturday’s Farmer’s Market so he didn’t overdue on the knee.

Tillie and I are racking up the miles and photographic memories on our walks . . .

Feathered friends from our morning walks

Sunrises . . .

. . . and sunset over River Walk Park

Tillie verified and approved that this is the best place for Pete to work
and still keep the ice machine on the knee.

December 3rd was celebrated with Sights and Sounds on 2nd. There was a lot of activities on Second Street with food, face painting, games, performers, etc. The everyone found a great viewing area for the Christmas Parade that started at 4. This year's parade theme was “Under the Sea.” There were hundreds of participants, with floats, costumes, bands, performances, cars, boats, bikes, police & firetrucks and horses. It is always fun to see all the participants, their costumes and the strong sense of community.

Tuesday, December 5th turned into a rather busy day. . .

A surprise visitor to the marina

Georgia installed the redesigned connector and made the pattern for the enclosure's sides. All this was done around her mom’s shoulder surgery. She did deliver the 4 side panels and Pete was able to install the hardware for them onto the boat. She will return to pattern the three panels for the aft after the holidays and Pete will have to install that hardware, too.

We thanked Freedman’s for the hospitality by having a care package from Katz’s Deli in NYC. Howie insisted that we join them to help enjoy all that good food. Since Pete had a follow-up appointment in Delray Beach, we joined them for lunch. We did need to be home by 4 as we had the 2nd Taco Tuesday of the season. Nancy and George, SV INDIGO MOON, joined us again with their outrageously good and very popular Jalapeno Poppers with raspberry jelly.

Another great Taco Tuesday on I-Dock!

Christmas at
Taco Dive

Thursday, December 7th, as a reward for Pete’s improved mobility, we joined Marilyn and Jon on Thursday for lunch at Taco Dive. It was a beautiful, but windy and cool day. We opted to head indoors.

Saturday, December 9th, was the Orchid Show and Sale over in the park. When Tillie and I walked at 7:30 this morning, they were already prepping. So many colorful, diverse and beautiful flowers, too bad I have a black thumb!

A feast for the eyes!

Around 3, we headed over to the beach on the inlet and claimed a great parking spot for the Christmas Boat Parade that started at 6. It was a great spot to sit, people watch, and read for a few hours. We had picked up Mike’s Jersey Subs for dinner and grabbed food and water for Tillie. The parade kicked off on time and the participants were slow and spread out. There were a few fireworks were informally launched close Chucks Seafood. After about a half hour, we decided to leave as it seemed that the parade was over. As we crossed over the bridge, we could see another 20-30 waiting for their turn to parade down the inlet! Oh well. Once we were back at the marina, we found out that the final act was a Drone Show! Somehow I miss the announcement on social media announcing the event. It is something that we both hoped to see one day. I am so sorry we missed the first few minutes, but did see the final 3 minutes. It was truly spectacular. If I can conquer the problems uploading, I have some drone video I am hoping to post.

Storms passing during the afternoon

Santa and the Boat Parade beginning at sunset

*The sunset picture and the line of boats above

was courtesy of the Fort Pierce Police Department*

Sunday, December 10th, was the motorcycle Toy’s for Tots Ride. We didn’t see it, but we could hear the roar for a good 5 minutes while the 200 or so made their way through “The Fort.” Also today, our daughter, Heather and her BFF, Natalie, returned from their vacation. They had an exceptional time during their Viking River Cruise down the Danube. The Holiday Bazaar Cruise was interesting and fun, great people, magnificent architecture, picturesque cities, delicious food, wonderful wines, and great memories. They are looking forward to future cruises.

Tuesday December 12th, CCYC South met again! Dan, Martha (SV BRUNNELL) and John and Betty (SV ANDIAMO) stayed at a time share in Cape Canaveral. Marilyn and Jon (SV ESCAPADE), George and Lisa (SV BAY WIND currently in Cape Canaveral) and we were invited to join them for an evening reunion. We had a fabulous dinner courtesy of John’s culinary wizardry with contributions from all of us. The evening was full of laughter, friendship, food and great memories, but all too soon it was time to leave. It was unfortunate that our friends arrived shortly before a strong cold front arrived. Temps started in the high 40’s and hopefully made it to the mid 60’s. After 2 days, it brought 5 days of steady winds in the high teens to mid- twenties with gusts over 40 and rain, but on a positive note, temps rose to the low 70’s. Jackets were still required due to the strong, cold and damp East winds off the Atlantic. I am sure that it was similar to the weather they returned to up north.

They were hoping to catch a launch while they were here. A Falcon Heavy, with a secret military payload (a space craft?) was scheduled to be launched, but was scrubbed numerous evenings due to technical and weather issues.

Tillie "helping" Pete work

Tillie is still a very excited puppy at 14 months. Some of the training has worked. She is great walking on a leash. She is getting better at coming when called, telling us when she should be fed or needs to go out, and when we ignore her, she eventually knows that she needs to stop barking. Unfortunately, when around other dogs, she elevates to an excited state. If she can’t play, she will usually calm down in about 5 minutes of a hissy fit. This is a problem with our grooming and boarding facility here in Ft. Pierce. Their philosophy is free-ranging dogs, both in boarding and grooming. We had hoped to have her board the day of her grooming so that she could socialize and acclimate to the other dogs. Currently, there is a worrisome, dog respiratory problem on the rise across the country. As a precautionary measure, boarding dogs are being kept in the “condos” and they are afraid she would be a problem, So, no socialization. It didn’t pay to head to the dog park before the appointment as the dogs are usually there between 8 and 10 and 4 to 6. So instead, we walked around town for about an hour and did 3+ miles. It didn’t work. As soon as we walked inside, she spiraled up and never calmed down. 2 to 3 dogs walk around the tables where grooming is being done waiting their turn. With a new dog in/old dog out of the mix every half hour, she never settled. Since this is her second offence, she is no longer welcome. Kyra, the head groomer, too, felt bad, so she gave me the name and number of a friend that she trained and now does individual grooming at her home. I managed to get onto her list when she returns from Maternity Leave.

December 15th, 16th, and 17th . . .a week of crazy weather!

For days, the temps were still reasonable, but the winds blew and the rains came. The WINDY and WEATHER BUG Apps were being monitored faithfully. The kite boarders were probably the only ones enjoying this weather. (Hopefully, I will figure out how to upload the video!)