We arrive in the USA

We arrived at the entrance to the inlet to Fort Pierce as the sun was beginning to rise. If you read the previous post you will remember that it was a very scary motor in as the tides and waves and current were all wrong. But we made it, thanks to Andrew's excellent skills at the helm. Sorry the picture below is blurry. I was taking a video and trying to hold on at the same time. But his expression says it all!!

Dark and gloomy on arrival

First bridge!

Through the other side

Once we had anchored in Fort Pierce, Andrew went on the Roam app to check us in even though we knew, as South Africans, we would have to go in to the office to show our visas. So we went ashore to find an Uber. We had to go to the airport to clear in at Customs and Border Control. The Uber ride was $17 one way. What we didn’t know is that there is a bus that runs that way every hour! Could have saved a dollar or two!

The office was supposed to open at 10am, but the staff only started arriving just after 10. We were allowed inside and we sat and waited and waited. Eventually someone came out and said that they had had a power outage and were resetting all the equipment.

Another 15 minutes later they started our process. And what a process it is for a South African registered boat. We had the same issue in Puerto Rico, if you recall. There was no problem with the humans on the boat as we have a B1B2 visa. The problem is the boat which is registered in South Africa. 

The first question was “How long are you staying?” Is anyone on a boat sure about how long they are staying? So many things play a part in a departure date, weather being the most influential. 

When Andrew said that we would stay five days, the official said he wanted our original boat papers which he would keep until we departed. We would need to come back to the office to fill in more paperwork and get our boat papers back. 

Andrew, being tired and grumpy, asked several questions, saying surely there was a better way than us having to go back when we want to check out and fill in more forms. Death to all the trees, I tell you! Nope, that was the way it had to be done. Every time we arrive in a new district/municipality/county, or something, (we were very confused) we have to go in to an office to fill in forms, and then go back to check out again and collect our boat papers when we want to leave. And all this because we don't qualify for a cruising permit.

Andrew told him that we are leaving the following day, so needed exit papers and didn’t leave the boat papers there. He was not happy that we were changing our minds!

 

Two hours later, we were finally able to leave. 

We were back on the boat when a guy in a dinghy stopped and told us we were anchored in the channel. There were no channel markers near us, but considering the glares we were getting from passing boats, we must have been. So we hurriedly upped anchor and moved.

Dinghy dock

The water maker stopped working. Granted, we maybe shouldn't have been trying to make water in this murky brown stuff. It lost pressure and then when Andrew switched it on it was making a funny clunking noise. Thank goodness one can get water at most marinas which is free.

The officer at customs said that we had 48 hours to leave so we made the most of it. We walked miles to Aldi supermarket and then caught an Uber back to the dinghy. We hadn't planned to walk so far and Laura was not impressed! There was so much choice in the shop, and the prices were far better than The Bahamas. Still expensive for us Saffas though!

We also walked though the old town which is very quaint. Laura was more prepared for the walking tour this time and was much happier.

The train came past just after we crossed the line. They hoot at every intersection. I took a video of the passing train. Such a tourist!

We stopped at a restaurant called Sailfish to sample the beers. 

Service dog in training

The following day, we thought we would catch the bus to the Aldis so walked to where we thought it would be. We couldn't see a bus or a bus stop so we went into the African shop where a lovely man gave us directions. 

We had to walk a bit to the bus stop. The bus only does a loop every hour on the hour, so we had more than half an hour to wait. It was hot and we were not in the mood to hang around being gawked at by weirdos waiting for the bus, so we went back to the boat.

The photo above is the court house where Trump is being tried. The Uber driver told us that the streets are closed when he is in town. 

There is a drive thru for everything

Fort Pierce is a lovely little town, but we had seen enough. It was time to move on. We had to go back out through the first bridge we arrived under. Nerve wracking! At least it was low tide.

Don't look up

The second bridge was a fixed one. We had to radio the bridge master and tell him we were on our way. It only opens every half hour so timing was crucial. We didn't want to get there too early as there was very little space to turn around, so we motored as slowly as we could. At 9:30 he stopped the cars and opened the bridge for us. It felt like we were taking forever, but it only took us a few minutes to get through. After waving at us as we went by, he lowered the bridge again.

Going under bridges didn’t really get any easier. It is almost as scary as anchoring in shallow water in The Bahamas! I must not look up as I have my heart in my throat every time, praying that we will not touch the top. So far so good.

Motoring down the ICW was amazing. To begin with it was quite narrow with lovely big houses on one side and mangroves on the other. 

We went under several more bridges. The cat in the picture below came zooming past us. I watched as he went towards the bridge. Because of the angle it looked like he wasn't going to make it, but he did.

Why did I look up?

As we got further north it got wider but the channel to sail in stayed quite narrow. Andrew had to keep a good watch and make sure he didn’t stray off the magenta line. It is very shallow out of the channel.

Boat called Mythos

We have seen more birds and dolphin here than in The Bahamas.

The ICW, intracoastal waterway, is like a huge river with brown water. It is mostly flat calm, the only waves caused by the different sized boats that race up and down. There were lots of little fishing boats anchored off to the side.

We stopped just the other side of Wabasso bridge wanting to stay there for the night but it was a tiny space with another boat already anchored there. It was too shallow for us to anchor on either side of him. So we went a little further and anchored just off the channel of the ICW at Coconut Point Anchorage.

The following day we only had a short way to go to Eau Gallie North as we were meeting up with some friends. Wendy and John on Headway were heading south to The Bahamas and our paths were crossing for an evening. When we met them in Grenada, they were very helpful with local information.

They came across to us for sundowners and we had a lovely catch up. They are trying to sell their boat, but are making the most of the time they have while they still own her.

The following morning we continued our journey north, motor sailing to Titusville.