Vero Beach...almost there

Peter was first up this morning at 6AM. By 6:30 we dropped docklines and proceeded through the lift bridge right outside the marina breakwater. You pass through the lift bridge, raised train bridge, and high rise Rt 1 bridge all in the span of less than 1/4 mile. Once through the high rise we rounded a green marker and found ourselves grounded. this is exactly the route we took in but today we left at low tide. Peter was able to move in reverse and we were able to move back and make a wider turn around the mark. OK.....not the best start to the day. We had 7 miles to the crossroads of the St Lucie River and the ICW with a few spots of concern. Jane spoke to one of the marina managers and got the more reliable local directions of which turns to watch for and which side of the channel to favor.  We followed these directions but also bumped once more on the way out of the river. Neither of these "bumps" were in places we were told to watch for!! The St Lucie River is definitely shoaling into the channel and you cannot trust the chart depths for low tide. If you have more than 4.5' of draft we recommend moving at high tide. There is only a 1 foot difference in tides so you need to be careful!  Once we were out into the ICW we still had some depths of only 3' under our keel before we moved out of the St Lucie River basin.  The rest of the trip was uneventful and we only had 2 bridges to lift today!!  By the time we made Vero beach (43 miles later) we pumped out, fueled up, and hooked to a mooring ball. It was 2PM.  The rest of the afternoon was spent de-stressing....again!  Tomorrow we leave at daylight....apx. 7:15-7:30 and will try to make 57 miles to our Canaveral marina.  Spring forward on the clocks tonight!!