Day 7
Our weather window looks to be next Tuesday, so we opted to stay one more day in Stuart to avoid sitting in a more open anchorage in Lake Worth for too long. We figured the weekend boaters will be less later Sunday afternoon when we arrive at our anchorage in the lake.
We spent the morning with figuring out an electrical hiccup, repairing screens, and installing a guard for our electronics in the flybridge and a radar reflector on the boat.
After lunch, we went ashore to walk around the old part of the city waterfront and maybe even find some ice cream!
We walked the waterfront boardwalk from the marina to the old town. Stuart is a good sized town that serves the fishing and boating enthusiasts that live in the area. There were lots of restaurants and cute shops as we walked the town. Feeling a bit hungry we stopped into a pub and had an appetizer before walking back to the marina. On the way back we make sure to see the statue of a sailfish - As Stuart is the "Sailfishing Capitol of the World"
Day 8. On to Lake Worth.
We left our mooring and went to the fuel dock to top off our diesel and water.
Leaving the fuel dock, we waited for a passenger train and freight train to pass so our bridge can open for us. After a 15 minute wait, we headed east under the railroad and bascule bridges to continue on the St Lucie River. Along the way, we passed the old city of Stuart's waterfront and a shoreline filled with homes.
The St Lucie River ends in the narrow inlet, and we turned south to join the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. We passed an osprey family with chicks nesting on a navigational mark. Look close in the second shot to see the chicks in the nest
At first, we pass the barrier island which is natural, part of the Hobe Sound Nature Preserve. the mainland side is filled with homes and condos.
Traveling further south we came to the Jupiter Inlet and its iconic lighthouse.
Continuing past the lighthouse, the waterway becomes a mangrove lined, with homes and condos further off the water. The mangroves give way to concrete seawalls with homes and condos. Soon we go under a bridge and the Intracoastal widens and turns into Lake Worth. We are now in the big city with its tall condos on the beach and expensive homes along the Intracoastal.
