We had "small craft warnings" posted today but of course Captain Kelly forged ahead and scoffed at such wimpy weather warnings! When your in the ICW they don't really mean anything. We did have the wind at our backs so it did help us along. the next picture is of the Ft Pierce Inlet. I don't know if you will be able to see the surf line but it demonstrated to me that I was glad I was in the ICW.
The next picture shows my hard working crew!
When we finally got to Stuart we had three bridge's to go through that are about 500 yards apart. The first is a 65' fixed, no problem, the next is a railroad draw bridge, no problem because they are always open unless a train is coming, the third is another draw bridge for cars. The procedure is to call on the VHF radio and request an opening, I did and was told to proceed and they will open for me. So I started to proceed when the bridge tender call me back and told me to stop, because the red light on the train bridge was flashing. You see the train bridge is automated, so when a train is coming the red light comes on and the bridge comes down. Ok so I have to wait a few minutes, no big deal! Well the light flashed for a good 15 minutes before the bridge finally came down. So I thought finally the train is coming. Another 15 minutes goes by, now we have a half dozen boats on either side of the two bridges waiting. The car bridge tender calls on the VHF and tells all the waiting boats that she called the train control office and they assured the bridge tender a train was indeed coming through. Well it did finally come through and it was a long one. Well after about 45 minutes it was like a NASCAR start, everyone tried to go through at once, by the way it was getting dark too.
Waiting for the train bridge to go down.
Finally the train comes through!
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