Before the Storms

Chris in the Bow
Manatee Pocket, Port Salerno, FL
September 29, 2023

Storms have filled the afternoons and evening every day this past week. Most days have been gray and overcast, but we got lucky yesterday because the morning was more Florida-like: the sky was blue and the sun was hot. 

Chris and I were lucky because I had reserved a boat after cancelling our usual Wednesday reservation due to storms. We decided that, based upon the best weather forecasting available, we would be able to enjoy some boating in the morning if we returned to the marina by about 2 PM.

It was a beautiful day as we boarded Sea Bean, our 21 foot Cobra dual console deck-boat, and headed out. We were introduced to the effects of the King Tides--the dock was about 2 inches underwater. A King Tide is an exceptionally high tide--and this one definitely was and we were heading out right about high tide. The downside? Well, one of the beaches that I enjoy most was underwater and there was nowhere to beach the boat. So we spent some time looking for an entry, but another boater had placed their boat blocking the walking path to the ocean from the intracoastal waterway and there was not a spot to anchor and be able to carry our chairs and beach items to walk the 100 or so feet to the ocean. There was no beach!

We decided to head out towards the St Lucie Inlet and anchor on one of the beaches there. The sandbar, we figured, was likely totally submerged. We enjoyed a short time on the beach, but the small flies were overpowering and we decided to go exploring and traveled up the St Lucie River and into the North Fork. I had planned on exploring some of the smaller parts of the river, but we began to see bad weather building and decided to return the boat to the marina earlier than planned. 

It was, however, a great morning and we were able to salvage outdoors activity during what turned out to be the best part of the day. 

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL