East of the Equator

The last five weeks have flown by with Reach tucked in many, many boats deep here in Ft. Pierce Florida.  I can’t say that any of us are taking it very well, facing many more weeks on land to come.  We’re realistic and know what we’re in for ~ it’s hard on us in different ways.  Mark has the stress of complicated work ahead, many of the projects include a huge financial commitment, plus we both feel out of sorts off the water.  Our bitchiness reached its peak about three weeks in, yet now things seem to be righting themselves as each accomplishment helps to give a sense of forward progress.   

The weather is also something to contend with as the heat is pretty brutal and the threat of afternoon thunderstorms always looming.  I have to say that we’ve been pretty lucky with rain.  There are usually scattered showers in the afternoon but they either skirt past or don’t last very long.  Mark removed all instruments from the masthead just in case…

As usual, Reach is able to bear the tough times better than us despite temperatures reaching 100˚F inside on sunny days.  

We’re using several small dehumidifiers that do seem to help keep the boat interior dry.

With all of these boats around in and out of the water, there are bound to be other cruisers nearby.  The Treasure coast from Vero Beach to Stuart is very cruiser-friendly, which is one of the reasons we returned here to do our haulout.  It is also very green, not overdeveloped and relatively laid-back.  Maybe that’s why the turtles still come here to nest!

We’ve been amazed at how many people we’ve run into here on their boats or passing through ~ some friends we haven’t seen in years, many common Manta owners and several cruisers whom we met in person for the first time.  Maybe you know some of them too?!

Without Scott & Tina’s help we wouldn’t be here at all!  We are so fortunate to have their condo to rent; the beautiful view is always luminous even when the clouds come.  Missing Tina, we had a fun Manta rendezvous in Stuart when we first arrived, happy to reunite with the Roam’s, the Happy Times’, the Island Dreamin’s & to meet the Circa Trova’s!

 

Being back in the States makes us realize that it is such a small world!   Barry and I found out that we grew up in the same neighborhood (Parkville) and went to rival high schools…   We last saw Bob & Jeannie in Guatemala and Keith & Jaime in Panama…  John & Jennifer passed by us for a quick hello on their Manta in Fernandina Beach 7 years ago…  

… and hearing that we were in town, they drove down from Jacksonville for a visit to compare notes on Mantas and cruising over lunch. 

Another new Manta owner, Jeff now has the cruising bug and he drove over from the west coast of Florida to meet and share ideas as well.  He’ll be doing virtual reality on Virtual Reality… gonna need more solar power for those computers...

Keith & Jaime were flying in for a vacation in the States and we were fortunate to spend several days with them in between their visits with family and friends.

We all got to connect with Steve & Connie, Leslie and Cheryl & Mikayla over dinner and a fierce Florida lightning storm!

Being cruisers, several of our encounters included a trip to Marine Liquidators for boat parts!

It has also been great to get to see new friends that we just met this year in the Bahamas.  

Gabe and Monika were passing through on their way to Canada so we were able to spend some quality time with them, a short but sweet visit.

Leslie and I have been helping each other stay sane while our hubbies are hard at work.  We are officially exercise dating and doing a mix of walking and yoga, plus some fun projects of our own.  Leslie’s AirBnB guests from the Czech Republic even gave us a few pointers on acroyoga.