After a week spent in serenity in our idyllic anchorage at Peck Lake, we moved back to Manatee Pocket in Stuart for the weekend so that it was easier to spend time with our friends who lived nearby! It was a quick one hour boat ride back to the mooring field there and before we knew it, we were all tied up!

I cooked us up some quick flatbread pizzas for dinner since we had gotten busy with work and hadn't eaten all day, and then we headed to shore in the dinghy to meet up with our friends!
They had recommended a waterfront place called Two George's Dockside Grill, so we met them there on our dinghy. It had gotten cold and rainy that evening, but luckily the rain held up just long enough for us to get to shore, get tied up and head inside! The restaurant had a band playing that night and it was a fun lively place!
After enjoying a drink and some appetizers, we all went next door to The Pearl. The Pearl had a very laid back and more upscale vibe and it was very inviting, with several cute little sitting areas with couches and low lighting. It was the perfect place to share a couple of drinks and laughs with friends!
When we headed back to the dinghy that night, it had rained more than we thought and we had several inches of water in the the bottom of the dinghy to pump out!
The next morning, we picked our friends up from shore in the dinghy and taxied them out to our boat in the mooring field, and then we all headed back to Peck Lake for a fun beach day! The weather forecast for that day had been teetering back and forth from rainy to sunny all week, but we lucked out and were blessed with a beautiful day!
We anchored Trouvaille in almost the exact same spot as we had spent the previous week, and then we all headed to shore in the dinghy. It was the top of high tide when we arrived, so there wasn't really a beach to pull our dinghy up on like we had before, but with a little finagling, we managed to tie the bow to the mangroves and throw the anchor out from the stern.

Once we got to the beach, we found a nice open spot to drop our belongings and then we all decided to play a game. I was overjoyed to discover that they didn't want to simply lay out in the sun all day because I get bored with that in about 5 minutes flat haha.
We walked down the beach in search of coconuts for our shenanigans, and then proceeded to draw 3 large target circles in the sand a short distance away, and assigned each a different point level, for a sort of mix between cornhole and darts. We took turns tossing the coconuts into the rings, each attempting to make a bull's eye in the middle!

We had a ton of fun and then afterwards, we all went swimming in the ocean! We only saw one Man O' War jellyfish, so that was a perk! LOL.
Aubrey brought a delicious assortment of charcuterie selections that we all enjoyed and it was just an all around perfect day! We had so much fun hanging out with friends and I had to keep reminding myself that it was January and not July!

Our friend, Mike, has been kind enough to allow us to have some packages shipped to his house while we are in the area, so after we all arrived back at the mooring field in the Pocket, we retrieved our packages from his truck before parting ways for the evening. One of which, was my brand new foldable Schwinn Loop bike that I had been impatiently awaiting the delivery of! It came fully assembled (my kind of bike :)), is foldable into a compact/portable size, only weighs 33 lbs, and can supposedly be folded into position within 10 seconds! I haven't had the chance to use it just yet, but I am super excited to have a bike again! We had full sized bikes last year in the Keys, but ended up giving them away at our marina in Philadelphia over the summer because they were just more trouble than they were worth for us since we didn't have anywhere to store them. Now, we will once again be able to get some exercise and explore a little further than we could've on foot!
After having a blast with our friends over the weekend, we got up Sunday morning and watched church from our boat. After the service, we headed back up to Fort Pierce in hopes that we might catch another set of friends this week who keep their boat there, and also to go to a marina we knew of in that area to get a pump out, since the only marina in Manatee Pocket with a pump out was out of service and the county's pump out boat wouldn't return our calls :/. Unfortunately, our friends in Fort Pierce are currently out of state, but we made plans to meet up when they get back.
By the time we had arrived in Fort Pierce on Sunday afternoon, the wind had really picked up! We decided against trying to dock in the strong winds and figured we would just anchor and then go the next day for fuel, water and a pump out. We circled a few different anchorages measuring depths and trying to decide where it would be best to drop the hook for the night. The most protected anchorage was a little too shallow for our comfort, so we headed over towards one of the spoil islands near the inlet. We found a nice private spot near the island and enjoyed a low key afternoon.
I even got to lay out in the sun on the trampoline for a bit and read.

I had only been outside for about 15 minutes, and then suddenly, my phone alerted me to a strong thunderstorm approaching with gusts of up to 50 mph expected! I looked to the northeast and saw the looming dark clouds in the distance and they were fast approaching! I figured I had better forego my lounging around and get the boat prepared, just in case the storm was as bad as my weather app had forecasted. Dustin and I quickly closed all of the windows, covered up the generator, took the dinghy plug out so it didn't fill up with water, and then sat in the cockpit and watched the storm roll in! I have always loved thunderstorms, ever since I was small! I used to sit out on the front porch with my parents and watch them come in. The power of thunderstorms has always made me in awe of our incredible God!
Hundreds of birds fled in front of the storms and we watched as they rose higher and higher in the sky, trying to rise above the storm cell.
The low, dark clouds closed in on the blue skies and soon we were directly in the storm.
The clouds seemed to empty out all at once and soon our boat was entirely engulfed in the rainstorm.
Knowing that we have several sets of guests visiting in the near future, and no plans of being at a marina to be able to wash the boat beforehand, I quickly ran outside and grabbed the scrub brush and went to work using our free supply of fresh water. The boat actually cleaned up quite nicely and the warm rain shower was quite refreshing to me as well!
It was nice not traveling this weekend for a change and just hanging out and enjoying life, and time with friends!
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