The Southward Trek Continues

Well, it is the penultimate day of February, our journey Southward has been delayed but we are once again pointing south. We have been on a mooring in Stuart, Florida for three weeks waiting for a new bow pulpit to be made.  A bow pulpit for you non sailors, or boating readers, is the rail that extends from the front of a sailboat to keep you from falling off when you are up at the bow, watching dolphins play in your bow wake, or doing practical stuff like tending the anchor or trying to hook a mooring pennant.  It also serves as the forward support for the life lines that keep you from falling off the rest of the boat.

Why would we need a new bow pulpit, you may ask?  It seems, as we were busy watching some work being done on a new exit from the ICW and trying to read the sign, explaining what was being done, a red day marker jumped out, and hit us right on the nose. Day markers on the ICW, unlike the floating buoys that mark other waterway channels, that are afloat and usually move over on impact,  are mounted on telephone pole size pilings that are driven into the the channel bottom.  Most boats, tugboats excluded, lose an encounter with a day marker.  We did.  And so we took up a mooring at the Sunset Bay Marina, in Stuart, and found a custom marine metal fabricator to make us a new bow pulpit. It seems the company that made the original pulpit went out of business 35 years ago.  So, A custom made alternative was our only option.

We have waited two and a half weeks for the pulpit to be completed.  I got it on Thursday, installed it, we have restocked and will continue south tomorrow, Sunday, the last day in February, and the 1st Mate's Birthday.

Although it has been an unplanned delay and layover, we have been able to get lots of needed boat projects done and spend some quality time with friends.  Remember the sendoff from Fernandina Beach in the last post and the promise of a picture?  Here is a pic of Ed and Kathy Saltmarsh, sailing friends from New England, and Dean and Kathy Mendenhall, longtime friends of the Saltmarsh's and new friends to the Belmira crew.  Ed and Kathy were vacationing here in Stuart and helped us out immensely. We can't thank them enough for all their help.  Ferrying us around Stuart to find some one to make a new pulpit as well as back and forth to Indiantown Marina to get our vehicle then back again. Thanks You Guys!

Here we all are at a local restaurant.  Sort of a second sendoff on this next leg of our voyage,

and the promised photo from the Fernanda Beach, Tiger Point sendoff.

 

Kathy M's behind the camera.

So, come morning, we will be heading down the Port Saint Lucie River to once again head south down the ICW and to some warmer weather.

Stay tuned, I'll let you know how that works out