Hell Gate was not hell at all like we feared with the name. Hell Gate ended up being an excellent anchorage. We shall not fear Hell Gate because we will never stand at that gate. We left there again at our typical time of 8:45 a.m. We traveled 22 miles north to Jensen Beach to anchor on the north side of the bridge to get wind protection from these persistent south winds. It took us a little over three hours, but were anchored for lunch. Just after lunch Cindy from sailing vessel "Gabrielle", whom we met in Marathon, picked Linda up at the boat ramp to take her to the grocery store. Cindy and her husband Jeff live in Jensen Beach.
While Linda was gone to the grocery store, Uncle Al arrived at the boat ramp, who once again lives in Ft. Pierce. We all had a good visit once we were all aboard again.
We expected to have some join us for dinner ashore, but we ended up alone to check out Conchy Joes. It was a great atmosphere with a nice happy hour menu. After sampling four different things we decided we should have just continued our first choice of the fish dip.
Watch out now, we left Jensen Beach almost an hour earlier than our normal departure time has been. We wanted to get to Harbortown Marina, where we are paying a premium price for dockage according to our standards, and get our monies worth. We arrived well before lunch to the welcoming faces of Patty and Bill whom we haven't seen for about three weeks since leaving Marathon. That gave us enough time to wash the boat before we went on a group lunch outing with all of the couples mentioned above.
Dinner was enjoyed at the marina after the added reunion of "Jeremiah" and "Nauti Nell" catching up to us once again. It was like old home week.
We spent enough for one night's dockage. We could spend less than that for four nights on a mooring ball at Vero Beach, just 15 miles north. So that's where we headed after saying goodbye's and see you laters to those left behind, excluding Bill & Patty. They untied shortly after we did, and arrived soon after to grab a mooring ball two away.
The afternoon was spent dinghying around, watching the rain, not wandering too far. We found a bar with happy hour just back south under the bridge. I know that is hard to believe, but we pulled in. After the first round, Linda dinghied back to "The Second Noelle" to close the windows. Happy hour went way beyond, but we were impressed with the good food.
On our way back, almost to our boats, we thought we could hear someone hollering for help amongst our laughter. Another sailboat then hollered to us that someone was hollering for help. We could see a dinghy, but did not realize it was not attached to a boat in the darkness and our drunkeness. We soon realized there was a person attached to that dinghy hollering for help. Once we reached her dinghy after reassuring her that we were coming, we realized she jumped in after it when it broke away from their boat, but the current was so strong, she could not get in it or swim it back to their boat which was on the mooring ball between us and Bill and Patty.
Now call this divine intervention or what you will, but lets put all these scenarios into play. We did not plan on being out so late. We were going to eat in, but the rain dictated otherwise. The boat they are on is from Erie, Pennsylvania, where Ray was born. In talking to her as we towed her back to her boat-mind you, she is still in the water because all of us were not sure we could haul her aboard a dinghy, keeping her calm and mind preoccupied, she mentioned their time in Oriental, North Carolina, where we own a boat slip. You cannot tell me that all of that was coincidence.
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