We had a nice night on the hook in West Palm Beach. It was breezy, which was just perfect because still air would have been very uncomfortable overnight. We woke up just before sunrise to get an early start to our next destination.

This momentous day marks the first of the northbound portion of our Loop! Even though the wind continued through the day, it was a significantly more comfortable ride than the day before.

There is a lot of “Simon Says” with the signage here. All the speed restriction signs look the same: they are white with an orange circle. The writing changes with Every. Single. One.

“25 MPH in ICW. Minimum speed no wake west of channel.”

“Minimum speed no wake. ICW included.”

“Year round 30 MPH in ICW. Minimum Speed No Wake west of channel.
Nov to April Minimum Speed no wake east of channel.” (This one had two columns of writing!)

“Resume Normal Safe Operation” (My favorite!)

So both of us had to be watchful and read all the signs. This is where binoculars came in handy. We had to read the signs as far ahead as possible to accommodate this conversation. It went like this:

Wendy, looking through binoculars: I think that sign says “no wake.”                 

Owen, picking up binoculars: No, that’s no wake WEST of the channel.

Wendy: Are you sure?

Owen: No.

It’s not that bad, but you certainly don’t want to break the rules. If you miss a sign, just do whatever everyone else does.

There were also several bridges on this portion of the ICW, but Owen had put down our antennas before we left to bring our air draft below 18 feet. Most bridges were much taller, but there were one or two that were 22-25 feet.

We were thrilled to see dolphins again along this stretch. It never gets old to see them play in our wake!

We pulled into the Fort Pierce City Marina and sidled up to the fuel dock. We were treated to diesel at $5.489 per gallon. There was a 10 cent BoatUS discount. That discount seems almost silly at that price, but we’ll take what we can get. The attendant said some places were running out of fuel. We also had a pumpout and then it was a quick dash to our slip at the end of a dock.

Fort Pierce has a nice marina area. We checked in, then went for a little walk. We strolled through the art fair. We stopped by the Manatee Center, which was $2 per person. Have to say it was kind of a dud.

Then we walked to West Marine to pick up some pencil zincs Owen ordered. We ubered back to the marina and ate at Cobb’s Landing. Our server was awesome, and the food was great. By the time we were finished, the rain told us it was time to go home. So we did.