Brain is squirming like a toad!

Aaaack my plans to leave the boat at Brunswick Landing Georgia have been dashed. No room now. They had space in early May but it is all gone now. Now I need a new plan.

I decided to go into the Marina at Vero Beach City and leave the boat for a month to look at options. I do NOT want to go up the ICW entirely. It is a mess in several places now. So what to do, what to do. They said I could stay til September 1. They put me on a face dock with weak, missing, loose cleats. I do not like leaving the boat only tied to a face dock with daily thunderstorms or worse expected. What to do, what to do. Hmmm go to the Publixs and grocery shop that's what. Got to eat. I've only been away from USA grocery store for a week and half but I acted like a kid in the candy store. Man I bought too much.

Thursday was a surprisingly rainy day -- all day. I did some boat projects - replaced the pump seals in forward head, cleaned aft head, and worked on diverter valve, read, and chatted but still no resolution on what to do. I kind of want to go back to NC but not up the ICW. A couple of days offshore is really too much for just 2 intrepid sailors and the weather is not good for the next week offshore. I could have the boat hauled out here but I don't like leaving a boat out of the water for an extended time. Maybe put together a team of three to return the boat to NC. What to do what to do.

Time to eat some crow and take Marks suggestion to go to the Fort Pierce City marina. He wanted to do that when we crossed into the Inlet Tuesday but I wanted Vero Beach. Fort Pierce City marina had great reviews on the docks there but there is a mean cross current in there. So I decided to go there and leave the boat for a month. I'll either have the boat hauled, stay at marina, or take it back to NC --- brain is squirming like a toad!

Today we left early to get to Fort Pierce at slack tide. Ohh boy now I have a favorable current all the way and even slowing the engine down 200 rpms and we still arrived about 45 minutes early. Still a current running but not bad then again it is nearly low tide. Ohhh man I can't win.

We worked our way through some confusing marks and the lowest water we saw was 6.7' -- I draw 5.5' so close. We made the marina which is much larger than I expected and the dock master guided us into a great slip. Only one slip away from all the amenities -- showers, office, laundry and the famous Tiki Hut. Wow the facilities are GREAT. Floating docks on massive pilings, thick concrete walkways, massive firmly attached cleats, and everything is super nice. All commercial washers and dryers. However in the check-in process every thing is printed on a dot matrix printer -- ever heard of one? 1970s technology. After lunch it was laundry time and the machines I used were just FINE. Unusual for a marina.

Temptation had one surprise for me. The fresh water pressure switch failed. It would not turn on the pump until all pressure ran out. Fortunately I had an extra and replaced it -- working fine now.

WOW this place is nice -- it is right downtown in Fort Pierce and all has been revitalized. We are going to have some fun exploring this place.