In an effort to outrun a forecasted storm arriving on Thursday afternoon, we left Titusville Marina Wednesday morning for a long 50 NM run to Sebastian Beach anchorage, this allows us to make a shorter run on Thursday morning, a shorter passage to Fort Pierce.

Sadly while weighing anchor the next morning, we heard on our VHF radio, a live Coast Guard communications between a rescue boat & land station, of a woman found dead 18 miles off Port Canaveral after going overboard on the cruise ship Meraviglia. We left the anchorage in silence.

Although the wind started gusting earlier than expected, we made the quick 25 NM run and tied up safely at the Fort Pierce City Marina.

Fort Pierce, popularly known as Sunrise City is a part of the historical Treasure Coast, composed of St. Lucie and Martin counties and the Indian River. The name Sunrise City is due to Fort Pierce being the sister city of San Francisco, California, on the west coast, also known as Sunset City.
Downtown was just a few blocks’ walk, offering a weekly Farmer’s Market, lots of dining options, a community theatre, and shopping. And there’s a cute little park for walking just across the street.

The top place on our list here is to visit “The Manatee Observation & Education Center”. Viewing these creatures takes patience since they are not always in the creek nor do they stay at the top where visitors can easily see them. But when their soft whiskers break the surface, each glimpse draws exclamations of awe. While waiting for a manatee, we also look for sting rays, terns, pelicans, various marine creatures, and even an occasional dolphin playing between the boats moored along the docks.

After sampling various dining options, museums and shops, we did a quick provisioning at a local supermarket a mile away; it’s always a challenge carrying groceries and bottled water without a car and walking a good distance but we take pride in being able to accomplish them and our reward is that food always seems to taste better afterwards.

Tomorrow we head to another anchorage towards our next destination Delray Beach.