Day Two in Fort Pierce With the Parents, aka Mom and Dad
Ditching the swamp for the Intercoastal
Awakening at 5 a.m. in the dark marsh of the Riverside Marina, it became evident that we would have to postpone our departure until the next high tide in the afternoon. We spent the day:
1) looking for new boat batteries to replace our dead ones (we never found any)
2) looking for a place to refill our propane tanks (this was accomplished)
3) robbing the Day’s Inn for ice one more time (hollow victory, since the machine broke half-way through filling our cooler)
4) dropping another half of a grand at West Marine for a grill, life vest equipment, and spotlight (despite what we got in return, can this really be called success?)
While still in the marina, we spied what looked like a monster a few feet from the boat. It turned out to be a manatee, or “sea-cow.” The beast was eight feet if he was an inch. We were unable to determine why he decided to slum in our abysmal marina.
Finally, we got underway, motoring through Florida’s Intercoastal Waterway. As we pulled out of the appalling squalor of Riverside Marina and drove toward a better life, Mom read a blessing of the boat, which we then anointed with waters from a Shinto shrine and the Ganges River.
We stopped at the Town Marina to refill on water and fuel, then backtracked and anchored between two other sailboats some hundred yards from a wooded shore. After a dinner of salad, chicken, noodles, corn-on-the-cob, and a bottle of Chardonay, we turned in with the boat rocking gently in the breeze.