(see http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/winlink.cgi?KG4EYP for latest position)

We came in the Fort Pierce inlet and temporarily anchored in front of the Coast Guard station, right in the inlet, to make a few phone calls. In the past, we had checked into the US by phone, but we had heard that because of increased security we might have to go somewhere and do it in person, and since Fort Pierce is an official port of entry, we figured it would be there.

One year we checked in at Beaufort and had to be seen in person, which wasn't bad since the officials were right there at the docks; they weren't thrilled about us being at anchor rather than at a slip, but they interviewed us and we filled out forms in a gazebo by the dinghy dock, which worked okay. Alas, after calling the Dept. of Homeland Security, giving them our details, and receiving a check-in number, they told us we had 24 hours to report to Customs and Immigration...at the AIRPORT!

This would be a pain in the butt. We'd have to either take a (pricy) slip, or find a place to leave a dinghy (not so easy in Florida - the Coast Guard station declined to give us permission to land) and call a taxi, not so cheap. Pretty annoying, considering it's a muni airport with C&I for general aviation; it seems to us that far more private yachts arrive from the Bahamas or Caribbean than private planes, and it's a big inconvenience for cruisers who don't have vehicles. It would make a lot
more sense to station officials near the port.

Fortunately, Asolare was in Vero Beach, 12 miles up the ICW (Intracoastal Waterway) and where we were planning on going anyway. Anne and Colby had flown back home to Idaho, but John was still there, and we'd been in touch by email and had each others' cell phone #s. So we called him, and it turns out he's still got his rental car.

That mission accomplished (or at least arranged), we set out for Vero Beach. After the Fort Pierce North drawbridge just past the inlet, the ICW follows a marked channel that has been dredged through a wide, very shallow tidal river. Britt turned to me and said, "How far do we go on this course?"

I looked at the GPS. "Five and a half miles. But pretty much the whole trip is in the same direction."

"We could sail, with this wind." A breeze had come up from the east; I gleefully agreed it was a great idea, so we put up the sails, killed the engine, and sailed all the way to Vero Beach. A delightful end to a pleasant passage.

206 miles from where we started out Sunday morning, we picked up a mooring at the Vero Beach municipal marina - an inexpensive place we've enjoyed before - and are now enjoying the sensation of NOT MOVING.
- posted by S/V Windom @ 6/11/2007 [link]