PEKABU 3 Cruising: 2023-2024 Cruise ~Weeks 15-19 ~ January in Fort Pierce

We are now in 2024! –

The new year may have ended with fireworks, but the sunset on the first day of 2024 was a firework of its own!

John and Robin
SV STORYTELLER

Before they headed out on January 3rd, we had dinner at Pickled with Robin and John, SV STORYTELLER. The next day, they had a wonderful sail down to Lake Worth, and will hopefully be returning to the Bahamas, if a window opens. If not, they will head down to The Keys and probably continue on to the Dry Tortugas and Fort Jefferson.

That is one place we would love to visit. Tillie still can use the pad on the boat, which takes care of no dogs allowed ashore, but the possibility of having to stay longer than planned due to the winds from the East causes problems with cell phone and internet access, and thus Pete’s work. Perhaps someday. . . .

It is always depressing to take down Christmas. The boat looks so bland, but I do have lights that I will be putting up under the Bimini once Georgia has completed the install of the enclosure.

Speaking of the enclosure, Georgia is a real wizard at creating the patterns for the enclosure. I am so glad it is she instead of me. In just 3 weeks she had all the pieces sewed and installed, but before she could work, I had to scrub the Bimini. The osprey and the grackles love to sit up on the Hinkley Loop atop the mast. Needless to say, they are leaving behind their calling cards. She did the final adjustments in the rain, but thanks to the almost completed enclosure, the cockpit remained wonderfully dry! Once the enclosure was done, Pete and I straightened up in the back and I was able to get below the dinghy and put away all the extra fenders. Thanks again Diane for documenting the moments!

Georgia creating her art

Kathy cleaning the Bimini and PEKABU as a convertible.

The dodger was removed for adaptation to the new enclosure.

The New Year is supposed to bring in changes. Unfortunately, the weather apparently doesn’t know it! Since about a week before Christmas, the much cooler, damp and windy weather has been the norm for most of the month. If we had 6 days above 70 all January, that was a lot. The winds have been contributing to the “wind chills.”

Checking for back on the Chesapeake

Storm rolling in at sunset

This is an observation, not a complaint. The rest of the country is faring much worse with Mother Nature demonstrating her power: blizzards (The NFL Quarterfinal game for the football in Buffalo had to be postponed) and heavy snows melting quickly with the temperature changes, and the flooding that accompanies it (Southern California and Northern Jersey both had major issues), and heavy rains, ice and the dense fog when the temps play around in the low 30’s; (A 40-car pile-up in fog on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge); and of course, a few tornados just to make it interesting (Florida had 2 within a week: 1 about 8 miles away in Port St. Lucie while the other one in Ft. Lauderdale went right through the mooring field by Las Olas Avenue!) The only bright spot in all this crazy weather is that the prolonged drought California has experienced over the past 10+ years seems to be over. All the reservoirs, which had been critically low as of 2 years ago, are now back to full, or almost full. It’s said that “after the rains comes the rainbow.” I guess we are very lucky to be gifted with beautiful sunsets. I am trying to capture as many as I can before the 4-storied building is built on the old power plant grounds just west of our location in the marina.

Pete is doing very well with PT. They have been working on increasing his strength in both legs. Flexibility is almost perfect. I imagine they will be cutting him loose soon.

With all the miles I have been walking Tillie, the irritation in my left knee is intensifying. I made an appointment with Pete’s orthopedist to get it checked. It is probably a torn meniscus. For now, a shot of cortisone and TLC.

Barb, SV ELAN, and I have enjoyed walking over to breakfast a few times. The Captain's Galley and Sunrise Café. After, we do some exploring. We have investigated the sights along 2nd Ave. The Pierced Cider Works was really cool. Another time we headed South on Indian Trail to Old Fort Park with the Indian Burial Ground. Then we crossed over the road to the beach. It was fun exploring and photographing as we went. Barb was looking for suggestions and tips for using her phone for photography. Our opportunities didn’t disappoint!

Second Street & Orange, double hibiscus, and the A.E. Backus House

~ The Pierced Ciderworks ~

Barb, the patio, and an crocheted tree trunk covering

Old hibiscus, the cider distillery, and the colorful bathrooms

The cool truck stage, some local color, and directions to the bathrooms

~ The Pierced Ciderworks Truck ~

~ The Old Fort ~

~ And the walk along the Beach ~

YUP! A great photo op!

Of course, there are still photo opportunities while walking Tillie and the sunsets from the bow of the boat, but January had almost no sunsets. I few times I thought I might get lucky only to have the sun dip behind a cloud bank.

The view from Waterfront Park, the Jetty Park in the rain, and sun on the hibiscus

. . . and the only other sunsets I captured

Tillie without all that fluff at bath time and loving her comfort!

Pete and Tillie Chillin'

Spent some time weeding and then processing photos so that I could finally update the blog though the end of December. I know my dock neighbor, Diane, is chomping at the bit for the update.

When I need to take a break from photography, I spend an hour or so coloring in my Mandala Coloring books. A book of 100 is completed. I am about ¾ though the 125 Mandela book and have another book unopened. I find them so relaxing. I get to play with shading, color blending and patterning. It is time to replace a number of my colored pencils. They are no bigger than an inch, and VERY hard to sharpen and hold!

We did have 2 Taco Tuesday in spite of the lower temps and winds. It was just a bit abbreviated. We arrived late as I had my medical appointment in Miami, so I didn't take any photos.

Breakfast at the Farmer’s Market is always fun. Tillie is becoming a very well-mannered pup. That is until someone asks if they can pet her. Then her excitement returns and the craziness begins.

Heirloom tomatoes and huge Kohlrabi at one of the stands

And from our seats on the wall, overlooking the water . . . .

January 20th, we decided to take a ride down to Haulover Park. It’s a really neat place north of the Haulover Canal. A marina, picnic groves, skate parks, huge dog parks, beautiful ocean beach, kite flying area, as well as fields for soccer, baseball and courts for basketball and tennis.

Tillie enjoying the great dog park at Haulover

Many boaters don’t realize when you have winds from the East, pushing the waves into the canal with an outgoing tide, you will get very steep, choppy, standing waves. It makes for very carefully thought-out and difficult maneuvering options. Unfortunately, many ignore that last part. Videographers gather to capture people being bounced, splashed and even tossed from the boats into the very strong current. There have even been boats capsized. You can check out WavyBoats YouTube Channel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hH3nsTqdAd8
Once done with the park, we headed up A1A and took the 17th Street Bridge across the ICW at Port Everglades. There were six cruise ships waiting to depart and one making its way out. These boats are huge. I can’t imagine the traffic, both pedestrian and vehicle, trying to get to their departures. The rest of the ride was picturesque driving up Route A1A.

The cruise ships in Port Everglades and canopied Rt A1A

Not all our time is spent on reading, relaxing and photos. Our heat/air conditioning system had stopped on its own on one of those days where it was above 75. After much some diagnostic testing, investigation and research on board of all the hoses and intakes, it was found, of course, to be the one that was the deepest and furthest away. It was the one that connected the outflow from the air-conditioning unit to the waterline and is located down in the bottom of the starboard locker. I was able to fit, remove the old and install the new hose. We spent most of the day working on it, but finally, success! The hose to the engine will be replaced soon just as a precaution. This is probably the last of our original hoses.