We had to leave Indiantown Marina first thing in the morning.  Apparently, the marina needed us to move because they were having a boat launch at 8am.  We were parked right in front of that location, didn’t you know.  Since we had to move and there was no more space in the marina, we moved to the next available marina, River Forest Marina just up the road.  We were concerned about the expected high winds overnight and wanted to settle in before the wind got too bad.

The cold front arrived during the night.  It was a bit cooler this morning.  52°F.  We put our gloves and knit caps on.

Leaving Indiantown Marina

Indiantown Railroad swing bridge is open.  No waiting!

Indiantown Swing Bridge

Only one other boat on the St. Lucie Canal with us.  Nice calm waters.  We saw some very nice homes along the way…

Nice house along the river

Love the colorful chairs on the back patio

Our first barge!!  It was going in the west.  It looked so threatening because it is so big.  At first we thought it was an obstruction.  Like a 4 poster bed coming at us.  All I saw were the uprights with a little white thing behind it.  It was in the middle of the channel and we were wondering what to do.  The canal looked a bit shallow on our side so we slowed down and let this behemoth pass.

Our first barge!

He didn’t have to give us a toot signal that means…move over idiot!!  We had moved as far as we dared.  We got the thumbs up and a wave from the barge driver.  Awesome!!

Short day trip today.  We arrived early, docked, and rested for the rest of the day.

River Forest sign out front

Always Home at River Forest Jan 8 2015