Not every day you come across the Nina & Pinta cruising down the ICW.  These replicas had been visiting Vero Beach, Florida & were now heading around to the Florida Panhandle, then up the Mississippi & eventually to Iowa.  Our AIS screen (to the right) showed them on approach (in case there was any doubt!).  A few years ago we had a similar sighting of the Charles W. Morgan in Buzzards Bay in Massachusetts – kinda crazy.

Where was the Santa Maria you ask?  We found the Santa Maria on the waterfront in St. Augustine.  This replica was recently built in Spain (by a completely unrelated organization) & sailed across the Atlantic for it’s 525th anniversary.  As our dinghy was tied up on the same dock, we went aboard for a tour.  Here is a view from the poop deck.  Like all replicas, they are built with modern safety equipment, navigation electronics & engines, but was still a shock to see how small it was (even though it was the larger of the 3 ships).

By the time our (2nd) Bahamian courtesy flag becomes tattered, it’s time to return back to the USA.

There is an app for that.  Clearing into the U.S. is now done via the ROAM app.  You set it all up advance, then clear in on-line.  Being the upstanding citizen I am, I promptly received my confirmation, however, some shadier characters may have to endure a video interview with customs officials.

We had a great weather window to cross the gulf stream & shot right into the Fort Pierce Inlet.  After anchoring for the night we headed into the Fort Pierce City Marina for a week of stocking up – yeah! – real grocery stores!  We had also carefully planned out months in advance our dentist & doctors appointments, as we are now Florida residents with Florida health insurance.  Fortunately, we are healthy.  Unfortunately, so many people are moving south that there are simply not enough doctors.  Especially as new patients, there was a very long wait for our initial appointments.

While Fort Pierce is know as the “Sunrise City”, we usually sleep through it, so we enjoy the sunsets instead.

Although one of the nights, quite the storm blew thru.

Of course, could we return to the U.S. without …. donuts???

Certainly it was worth a $30.00 car rental to visit Love Bug Bakery in Melbourne!  At least we made it completely worth our while to also stop at a bead shop (for Lori) & the Melbourne Beach Market for the best sausages ever!

Time to start heading north!