FABER COVE, FT. PIERCE, FL

29 December to 1 January, 2004. We made it! This was our primary goal before spending a couple of weeks in St. Lucie, FL at the Army Corps of Engineers boat-in campground for $8 / night. Our friends Michael and Natalie live in Ft. Pierce with their daughter, Roxanne. Rocky grew up with them in Southern Illinois. We made 70 miles in one day to get here and pulled into the anchorage after dark, about 6 pm. We promptly dinghyed to shore and walked the 3 blocks to their place. They hadn't heard from us in 4 days and were quite surprised to see us. They expected we would be another day or two. They live on Hutchinson Island which was ground zero for both hurricanes (Frances and Jeanne, I think). We saw lots of damaged boats and property on the way here. Michael and Natalie live next door to a bar called Archie's which has been there for 50 years. It was pretty much destroyed by the hurricanes but they will be re-opening on February 14. Patty, the owner of Archie's got a one-day permit to have a New Year's Eve party in the parking lot with a live band. It was lots of fun. It was becoming a hassle to dinghy back to the boat everytime we needed something so we paid $15 for a slip at the apartment complex docks. I always enjoyed hanging out at Porpoise Beach across the street. The walkway that leads down to the beach is now level with the sand. The hurricanes threw mountains of sand onto the land. They're still digging out from the aftermath. A lot of people lost their rooves from the hurricanes. It's always nice to spend time with Michael and Natalie but we need to move on to Stuart.