Dec. in Ft Pierce - Two People Died Here

December 5

No shit!  Since moving over to H Dock for our one-month stay at Harbortown Marina, we've learned that two people in the marina have died in the last 3 weeks.  One body has not been found and one body drowned.  My bet is on the narrow finger piers used to access the boat slip.  Not only are they skinny, they move ... as in swaying side to side as you walk the narrow plank.  Add to that the absence of any ladders on the dock, and you are gonna die if you fall in the water at night.  Creepy ....

We were tied to the fuel dock for 1.5 days waiting for the wind to die down before making our approach to the slip (the Harbormaster's suggestion after two other sailboats made spectacular crashes into the pilings!).  

We're always nervous when coming into a slip (esp. one with fixed pilings and finger piers -- called such b/c the pier only partially extends into the slip) because you never know what to expect, no matter how much you rehearse ahead of time.  We worried most about lassoing the stern pilings -- they are responsible for stopping our forward progress, and you basically get one good shot at grabbing the piling before it moves out of reach -- when the hardest part ended up being the narrow fairway in the marina (the fairway in the channel of water you navigate to get to/from the slip ... kinda like the lane in the parking lot).  The fairway was less than 75 feet wide ... and Maja probably takes up 48 feet with the bow sprit and dinghy hanging in the davits off the back ... so we knew it was going to be a tight turn into our slip, allowing for wind and current.  That worry was confirmed when our dinghy crunched into the piling on the opposite side of the fairway!  No harm no foul, and the rest of the docking went perfectly.

How's your lasso?

It is no easy feat to steer a big boat into a little spaced marked by pilings in the water!

So ... Harbortown Marina, Ft Pierce Florida ... our home for the next month.  The marina has very nice facilities, so this will be a good place to hang out.  Our friends, Ed and Karin (s/v Passages), are here and they have a car!  And, we've also discovered a small contingent of boaters from Brunswick, which lead to some nice happy-hour reunions!

Peter and Claudia (s/v Now or Never!)

Except for Dec 9-12, we had great weather and were able to use the bikes every day to explore Ft. Pierce.  We are not in the downtown area, but it's only 1.5 miles away.  We are within walking distance of a West Marine, Publix and Dollar General (what a great combo!).  And, we can ride our bikes to a huge marine warehouse store - Marine Connection.  And I mean HUGE.  They have everything from tiny nuts and bolts to huge engines, davits and windows. 

We got a new seat for the helm.

Our list of boat projects had gotten down to just a few before "the rain" came.  It rained for 4 days straight ... pouring rain ... flooded streets ... time to find out where we have leaks on the boat.  Definitely, the butterfly hatch we love so much in the cabin is a serious culprit.  Before it was a minor nuisance, but with 4 days of water pounding the boat, we were walking on towels, and everything inside the boat was damp.

We managed a few shopping trips and dinner with Ed and Karin, but mostly everyone was holed up on their boats.  Kinda boring even with cable TV ...  I even broke out the playing cards and started playing "Solitaire" ... (something I'm addicted to on the ipad, but find it to be a lot of work with real cards!). 

Decorated the boat for Christmas!

We leave here on Dec 23 for family Christmas in Helen GA.  First, we'll drive to Tarpon Springs and see Dan's mom.  We also hope to meet the previous owner's of s/v Maja and get a spare starter from them.  Then, we'll have one long day of driving to Helen GA where we've rented a log cabin for 4 nights.  Michelle will fly into Atlanta, and she and Craig will drive in from Ft Benning.  James and Brody will drive down from MN (one week after moving into his new home!).  Craig did Ranger training in this area and recommended it because of the beautiful mountains.  We found nothing but beautiful rentals in this area ... and our final choices were not driven by number of beds or baths, but rather by the requirement of a a pool table and outdoor hot tub!