Good morning from Fort Pierce, FL! We arrived back to the US a day early, Easter Sunday, as once again the weather windows continue to shift and change. We had planned to cross from Grand Bahama Island Monday, but the winds looked to be strengthening and we decided to depart early.

After riding out the last storm in Old Bahama Bay, along with 40 other boats, the winds were finally calming, and the seas were not as angry. We left at first light, along with 15 other boats, to take advantage of the calm water and winds for the first part of the day.

Putting the West End of Grand Bahama Island behind us and saying goodbye to the Bahamas!

Amy is not a fan of seeing the sunrise!

We ran quickly for most of the crossing because of the waves and then had to slow down to enter the cut and marina closer to slack tide. The marina has a strong current running through, and it is recommended to arrive and depart only on slack tide. (Slack tide is approximately the one-hour period before and after high or low tide.)

We were able to re-enter the US using an app on the phone and with a video call from customs for our arrival. It went smoothly and was very easy to do.

Was nice to get this text along with an email welcoming us back to the US!

We had planned to arrive in the West Palm area, but we decided to take advantage of the Gulf Steam and angle further north. We got a 2 MPH boost and burned less fuel taking this angle. It did mean a 100-mile day instead of the 55 miles straight across. (Plus we didn’t get to see Gretchen)

As we enter the cut into the Fort Pierce area and the ICW.

I have heard not to boat the ICW on weekends because of all the boat traffic, and I now believe it!!!

A view from the causeway back to Fort Pierce City Marina where we are staying. This was on our way to get ice cream on Easter Sunday! It has been a while since good ice cream.

Dinner the first night back with a couple steaks and one of our last good bottles of wine to celebrate our safe Bahamian adventure.

Sitting at Crabby’s for a quick dinner last evening after a long day!

We spent Monday re-stocking the boat with everything we ran out of in the Bahamas. Prices for food and drinks in the Bahamas is very high, so we returned with an empty boat. Just to give a couple examples, a case of beer is about $80.00 and a handle of Titos was $75.00. To mention nothing of the food! We rented a car for the day and did a grocery store run, West Marine stop, and a major Sams Club run. Needless to say, the boat is once again well stocked with everything but wine. I still have to order that, but I need to know that we will be in one place for a few days for it to arrive. All the problems of traveling!

Tuesday was laundry morning for Amy while I worked on a few broken items on the boat. It is amazing how many little things go wrong with the salt water and all the use. The horn stopped working, the through hull on the AC is clogged, the KVH has a problem (on their end but it is a pain for me still), and I need to look into a antifreeze issue on the port engine. Hoping that it is minor, but we will see. The good news is the horn is fixed, I have a plan for the AC through hull, and the tools I need for the coolant/antifreeze issue arrive today. I have, and continue to learn so much about all the systems on this boat. Not sure I really wanted to learn them all, but you have to.

And yes, today I get a haircut and can’t wait! I made it the 7+ weeks in the Bahamas without one.

We had, or I might say Memphis had, a great visit from some of our DC friends here for dinner on Monday night.

You would think we don’t pet her at all by the way she acted with them!

Today will be our last day here in Ft Pierce and I hope to get a few more projects on the boat done, as well as a visit to the Navy Seal Museum here in the area.

We start to move north tomorrow with stops planned in Melbourne, Titusville, Daytona, St Augustine, and Jacksonville over the next two weeks. We are trying to get to Hilton Head for a visit from Bradley by April 25th. Lots of stops between now and then so most will only be a day or two max. We are also trying to cut the travel distance down to approximately 40-50 miles a day being in the ICW. We may jump outside, into the Atlantic, for a longer run past most of Georgia to save some time.

That’s the update for now, hope you all have a great week. For those in DC, hope you survive the snowstorm!