Stuart, FL

We left Cracker Boy Boat Yard this morning, and I wish I could say that it was uneventful... but noooooo! There's always a story. We were supposed to go into the water at 10:00, but it turned out to be closer to 11:00. That was no big deal though. When we walked down to the water alongside the boat in the lift, the first thing we noticed was the current and the chop in the water. When the boat was lowered, thankfully there were no problems/leaks. So we proceeded. The guys working the lift instructed us that they would walk us out of the slip and that we were to gun it in reverse when we were ready to go. We needed to clear a barge that was parked the next slip over. Well, with the current, wind and prop wash all pushing us to starboard towards the barge, we hit, and there was nothing we could have done to stop it. We got a gash in the side of the boat, but luckily it is just in the gel coat. The gash is fairly high above the water line, so we shouldn't have any issues with water getting in. Unbelievable! Every #$&!? time we go in or out of a dock there seems to be a problem. Just another issue to deal with - and more money $$$.

So, now we're heading back up north. It officially feels like cruising is over - at least for this year. Although I'm happy to be heading home, I already miss all the friends we've met along the way. We still have many miles before getting home, but the excitement of going to new places has worn off. We'll have to make it a point to stop at anchorages that we missed on the way down to make it feel like we're still cruisers. Hopefully, we'll meet new people along the way too.

Today we travelled about 40 miles from Riviera Beach to Jensen Beach. We are anchored just north of the Causeway Bridge. Jensen beach is about 4 miles from Stuart, FL and the St. Lucie Inlet. Tomorrow, we hope to get to Vero Beach and pick up a couple of supplies that we forgot while provisioning in Palm Beach. After that, continue northward. We'll be home before you know it.