Tuesday, March 11, 2014 Back in the USA!!

I just realized something….we checked into the Bahamas on December 11^th and we checked back into the states this morning, March 11^th.  It’s been exactly 3 months!

This freighter greeted us coming into the channel!

Entrance to Harbor Town Marian

Harbor Town Marina

After motoring down the channel of the Fort Pierce Inlet (3 miles long),
we anchored just on the SW side of the Fort Pierce North Bridge along the ICW.   When we got here at 8 am, there were only 3 boats….now at 7 pm, the anchorage is full.  We are all so tired that all we wanted to do was sleep.   However, we still need to check in with the Customs and Immigration office.  We gathered up our necessary papers such as our passports, drivers licenses,  boat documentation, decal number, etc and dinghied into the Harbor Town Marina.  The sign hanging in front of the dockmaster’s office listed the phone number that we need to call.  All 3 of the boats called at the same time to declare our entry and to receive our entry number.  We were all told that we had 24 hours to check in at the Fort Pierce and St. Lucie County International Airport to

present our passports and our entry number.   The one thing I can say about this experience is that the officers are not consistent with their questions.  Once we got to the office at the airport, the process was very quick.  In fact it took less time for them to check all three boats in than the time it took our taxi ride to get to the airport,  a 5 mile trip.  I couldn’t believe that they didn’t want our boat’s decal number after everything I went through to get it.  It took  Al Skinner and I about 3 hours to find the site and fill out the necessary questions in Thunderbolt, GA.  Then I paid extra to have this 1”x1” decal expedited to my house so Tiffany could mail it to Vero Beach….and they didn’t ask us for it!!  Huh, and you’ll like this one.  Our friend Dave discovered today that his passport is expired and so is his boat’s documentation paper.  The officers never even notice a thing……No one in our crew could believe it but it was a good thing for Whisper!!   As for the taxi ride, Keith called the Yellow Cab and they couldn’t come get us for 35 minutes.  I called a one man cab, Tim’s Taxi, and he picked us up in 15 minutes.  The minutes kept ticking away and our round trip total was $30 for 5 of us.  Six dollars each isn’t bad considering my last taxi ride experience in the fall cost 4 of us a total of $88.  Oh well…..

The Cove

Chuck, Rita, Dave, Keith

Once Tim dropped us off at the marina, we all decided we better do lunch.    We sat outside at the Cove looking at the huge marina that surrounded us…so many sailboats and motor yachts.  The food came quick and before we knew it, we were back sleeping on our boats.  Chuck and I didn’t want to sleep too long, so by 3:30 we were both up and in the cockpit enjoying the ICW and watching boats anchoring nearby. It’s a nice day but the winds are cool and not the warm breezes of the Abacos.  Sigh!   We grilled out and then we hit the sack early tonight!

The Cove-more dining.