Crossing over & South Florida

We were all set to come back to the USA 🇺🇸,  we had enough of the beautiful blue waters , not really I could have stayed longer.  We had been checking the weather forecast, reading our Chris Parker weather updates, and checking our wind apps (Windy and PredictWind),.  Once we knew we were leaving, we checked out at Customs,  which means we showed our Cruising Permit and they stamped our paper and sent us on our way. 

On May 11th, we were on the fuel dock before they opened.  We had a perfect day to start our journey back to Florida, after the last crossing to Bimini, we needed a perfect day.  Our friends from Be As You Are had left before 6 am, sailboaters ⛵. 

Once we were 3 miles off shore I lowered the Bahamain courtesy flag 🇧🇸. 

We were in the Gulf Stream taking advantage of the current, we averaged 9.6 knots 🪢,  not bad for normal 8 knot boat.  After several hours we had made contact with Be As You Are, Rob let them know we were going to wake them as we passed.

WOW! 11.3 knots

It was a very uneventful journey, we had an awesome day. We entered the Lake Worth inlet. This was an interesting area, we were headed to Lake Park Marina.  Navionics routed us between a Shoal and a marina, it looked as though people were standing in the channel. 

Florida on the horizon

Due to current and wind in the marina we had just a little issue getting into the slip, once we were in Rob used the ROAM app to check us back into the US 🇺🇸. 

Our only night here we walked to a Mexican restaurant, we both had a craving for either Mexican or sushi 🍣.  We were surprised to find out the restaurant had wine margaritas 🍹, not tequila.  We skipped the margaritas, but the food was delicious 😋.  We both had a chili releno, a taco, and an enchilada with rice and beans (yuck). 

Next, we were headed to Fort Pierce, we were looking forward to seeing family and getting our packages we had shipped.  We stayed at the Fort Pierce City Marina.  The marina is in a great location, restaurants and shops within walking distance.

The next day, our niece Brianna, picked us up and brought us lots of goodies.  We purchased a portable generator to assist with the generator problem, a new flag (torn to shreds), and a few other things.

Brianna chauffeured us around to West Marine (more packages) and some other minor items, Publix to provision, the refrigerator was empty, and to the fish 🐟 market.

For dinner we met Zach, Brianna, and Jett at Cobbs Landing.  I cannot believe 😪 we did not take any pictures with us and the kids, especially young Jett. 

On Friday morning 🌄, May 14th, we were so excited, I made a delicious fresh fruit salad (the little things in life). I also scored Fruity Pebble coffee creamer, yum.

We (Rob) spent the day doing boat chores, replacing the head pump, and walking around Fort Pierce.

Theater

He doesn't make a very good Zombie

At the fish 🐟 market, we bought fresh Ahi tuna and swordfish. Tonight's dinner was tuna poke bowls. You can find my recipes on our My Onboard Recipes blog.

On Saturday morning we began heading north, we weren't 100 % sure where our destination was going to be.  After 8 1/2 hours, we arrived at the free wall in Cocoa. After tying up I see a sign stating dock closed 5/15/21 10 pm to 5/16/21 11 am. Of course, I'm  checking the date on my watch⌚. I even double checked with Rob, this can't be right, but would explain why the dock was empty except for another sailboat.

We untied from the dock and moved the boat into the harbor where we dropped the anchor ⚓.  Time for a cocktail and swordfish 🐟 for dinner.

Chocolate 🍫 Martini

Swordfish over greens

We found out the dock was closed due to a triathlon 🏃‍♀️ 🏃‍♂️ 🚴‍♂️ 🚴‍♀️ 🏊‍♂️ 🏊‍♀️.

On Sunday morning 🌄, we headed to New Smyrna Beach (NSB). We stopped here on the way south last year for an afternoon and thought it would be a good place to check out.

We made it into our slip without any issues. I even got the lines over the pylon on my first try, the deckhand was impressed.  We even had bystanders to assist and we were good to go.

Our plan was to stay one night, well one night 🌙 turned into two nights, two nights 🌙 turned into the weekend.  Now we are into a week here and looking to stay longer.  Why? Did we fall in love with New Smyrna? 

Well, things have progressed and we decided it was time to start the next phase of our life.  What does this mean? We are selling Ka'Why Knot. WHAT? 👀 👀

Wednesday morning the 19th of May we decided to purchase a vehicle 🚗,  we went and looked at Fords, Chevy's, Dodges and on Friday we purchased a 2021 Toyota 4 Runner 🏃‍♀️. 

Rob contacted Curtis Stokes and Associates, Inc. which is a licensed and bonded yacht brokerage specializing in worldwide yacht sales, based on a recommendation from Mark Solsman, a friend from Maryland.  Thursday morning 🌄, we met with our broker Eddie Sus from Curtis Stokes.

In the meantime, we are enjoying our time ⏲️ in NSB. Old Fort Park is directly across the street from the marina. The ruins are a mysterious 55' x 86' coquina foundation with walls five and a half feet thick. It was thought to be a Spanish Fort predating St. Augustine or Andrew Turnball's town Mansion. Andrew Turnball founded New Smyrna, Florida.

We spent the afternoon on the beach ⛱ and seen the rocket launch 🚀. We have a new favorite hangout called Corkscrew and bartender Heaven (that's her name). 

Rocket launch 

Plume

Corkscrew happy hour

We also have been doing a lot of decluttering, projects, fiberglass repair, cleaning, purging, etc. so the boat 🚢 would be ready for pictures and hopefully showings.

Rob working on fiberglass, finally!

Cushions cleaned

Saloon is fresh

Stateroom tidy

At this point, we do not know what our plans are, purchase an RV, airbnb rentals, travel, so many possibilities. Stay tuned for the next adventure of our nomad life.