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December 20, 2015  Day 28  South for the Winter 2015-16

At anchor, St. Lucie River
Stuart, FL

We cruised for about 5 ½ hours today from Vero Beach to Stuart. It was windy but we were in fairly protected water much of the way. By 10:15 we passed Ft. Pierce; then Jensen Beach at 11:50. 

We reached the St. Lucie Inlet at 12:45. This is the point one either continues south on the ICW toward Palm Beach and Miami or turns to enter the St. Lucie River.  We are on the river, which allows us to continue on to Lake Okeechobee and take the shortcut across Florida.

We only needed to have one bridge open for us and that was here in Stuart.  We are in a large anchorage and have decent protection from wind. Shortly after we anchored Joyce baked a batch of Christmas cookies. We had a light dinner and are just relaxing for the evening.

Tomorrow will be a long day of travel – nine hours plus transiting three locks.  The forecast for the lake is a moderate chop.  We will go as far as Moore Haven and look for a spot at the city marina.