Day Four in Fort Pierce, aka Drifter City
Grinding in the morning, leisure in the afternoon
We woke early, ate bagels with cream cheese, and set to work with industry. The large grinder left by the previous owner was a heavy and unwieldy weapon, but smoothed the gaping cavities in the hull like a dream. With an estimated hour of grinding left, however, this dream was shattered when a boatyard employee reprimanded us for not draping material over the boat, ostensibly to protect other boats from the dust that used to be our hull. It was clear that our dust was blowing nowhere except an empty dirt road, and we decided that the employee simply wanted us to purchase another expensive item from the boatyard’s store.
Quoth Aaron: “He just wants us to buy more of his overpriced ‘stuff.’”
The employee continued to observe work being done on a neighboring boat, but we were not willing to play ball by buying an unnecessary piece of cloth. Instead, we decided to head to the beach, and return after 6 pm, when we hoped he’d be gone and we could complete our work. We spent nearly an hour bodysurfing in 8-foot waves, and washed off in the beachside shower, this time without an audience. We stopped at the library on the way back and wrote some e-mails.
When we returned in the afternoon, nothing had changed. The employee was still there, and we had no choice but to give up on work for the day. We napped, read, went out for ice. We decided to rise early the next day to do the remaining hour of work before any employees came in, then head to Miami for the day. After supping on a dinner of tortilla chips, salsa, and refried beans, we discussed philosophy and politics before retiring early in order to be refreshed for the day ahead.