December 20th- Jensen Beach to St Lucie River/ Stuart FL

When we got to Jensen Beach we weren’t thrilled with the idea of spending the holidays there. After a couple of days we started to warm up to the place. There are a bunch of restaurants, a grocery store, hardware, pharmacy, all the necessities.

A rain shower on the way.

For the Admiral’s birthday we went to the Tako Tiki. It had a very old Florida vibe. We brought Ollie with us since there was outdoor seating. The tacos were good.

Ollie and I went on an expedition over the giant bridge to Hutchison Island. We walked 6 miles (round trip). Both Captain and pirate dog were tired by days end. His leash walking skills seem to be improving. He’s always in a state of rebellion.

The mooring field.

The view is good. The facilities are clean and locked. On the down side, the adjacent park gets a little wild in the evening. We were going to keep the mooring through the holidays. Unfortunately, someone else reserved the mooring before I called in the extension. There were always several open moorings during the week we spent there but all had been reserved. People just pay for moorings only to leave them empty. We were cut adrift (figuratively).

We could have anchored adjacent to the moorings but decided to move on. The dinghy dock on the north side of the bridge was dismantled and being rebuilt and I didn’t like limiting my options to the South side due to weather. I also had a chip on my shoulder.

We took a starboard turn off the ICW, up the St Lucie River (for the first time). While Jensen Beach is technically a part of Stuart, geographically, they are two different places to us boat people.

We went through a trio of bridges and pulled into the Sunset Bay Marina’s mooring field on the off chance that there was an available spot for Evergreen. Many boats. Not looking good. Lynne was in full lookout mode. WAIT! What’s that? An EMPTY mooring! Get on the phone and call the marina, QUICK! Alas, it was all a mirage. The mooring was reserved.

We anchored Evergreen in Pendarvis Cove near Stuart. There is a park to walk Ollie. Stuart is a long dinghy ride but doable in good weather. We’re having some rain so exploration was brief. The Admiral is looking into marinas. Most are full. We’ll scout the area and see if Pendarvis Cove is going to work out over the next day or so.

The park. Very tropical.

Evergreen anchored on the St Lucie River.