TERRORIZED BY TRAFFIC

Finally it was time to set sail for FLORIDA, when nothing could be done to fix any of our electronics that had been "fried" by the lightning strike. Arriving and departing are always emotional times and leaving Green Turtle Cay, where we had spent a lot of our time, and said our 'good-byes' to everyone including the 'Rasta' dockmaster. Even the three houses on the beachfront seemed brighter in the fading light. At least we will be back within a couple of weeks, to pick up SVEA and sail her back to Florida as well. So early in the morning of 17th July, we motored through to Spanish Cay to anchor for the night and watched the sinking sun. The evening dip in the water was out. The sea was filled with thousands of Jelly-fish. By late the next day, we again anchored, this time at Mangrove Cay, far out on the Bahama bank, slept for four hours, and took off again to cross the edge of the bank and into the Gulf Stream, at first light. The Queen of Florida had filled the whole cabin with memorable Island fragrance and the cup 'overfloweth' with frangipanis........................



Gone was the turquoise and the aqua water colours. Gone too, were the pastels of water-colour green, now to be replaced with the deep indigo blue of 1200 ft of Gulf Stream. When the wind died, we motored on a mirror sea, with only flying fish breaking the surface. Our destination port was Ft. Pierce and we pushed to be in by nightfall, and in late afternoon, it became a race to beat the inevitable thunderstorm that had built up after a cloudless day. It was hand steering all the way without the auto-pilot, or in the case of 'Queen' Laurie, it was foot-steering. Apples, water and shade..................... and she steered a good course too.



We had heard that in order to clear in at Customs, you need to go to the airport. Kind of hard to do to take the yacht to the airport, so we caught a taxi. Before sunrise we were on our way up the Intracoastal once more to Vero Beach. Pelicans in the morning sunrise, and high rise condos on the Oceanfront. We went about ten miles past Vero to look for "Jones's Fruit Dock", a place to leave ARITA for the hurricane season. Met the 90 yr-old Mr Jones after docking, but he was not allowed to have live-aboards, nor had he the electrical power available for the A/C, which is a must-have, so we departed for the Municipal Vero Beach Marina. Picked up a mooring at Vero, and into town to rent an AVIS. Then the terror began. Not my terror, oh no, it was the Queen who became terrorized. Way too much traffic, going way too fast on the highway, and it seemed, she said, I was driving way too fast..............At least I was driving on the same side as them...................... Here's Mr Jones's Fruit dock below. It really is wonderful being back in Florida where the supermarket is overflowing with healthy goodness, where everything is fat, fast and furious, and where you can definitely get a good laugh most of the time...........



We made it safely to Jacksonville, where the electronics and alternators are being repaired and Queen Laurie and little Laurie are happily re-united and engrossed in talking wedding plans for March 2010.



And it surely will be quite some time before we get back to anything like this picture, considering SVEA that has to brought back to FLORIDA, the electronics and wiring on ARITA that has to be replaced, a new propellor shaft put in and hurricane season and.......................................................whatever......
Yes, you can double click on it........................