Colby's mantra: "Been there, sniffed that"

We left Stuart last Tuesday, April 13, with sad farewells to some good friends. On to Vero Beach, this time on a mooring. With a good breeze, we rolled out some jib and picked up about 1.5 miles per hour. We stayed there 2 nights, and enjoyed the peacefulness of this lovely anchorage, after 6 weeks at a dock. We walked to the beach, and watched some big waves crashing on the shore. No sails or other boats in sight that day!

Then on to Eau Gallie, where we had stayed before. Again, a good breeze and help from the jib. Just as Karen was falling asleep, after a long day, a furry creature landed on her head, entering through the hatch overhead!! It was a cat, off one of the other boats at the marina. A few screams were emitted when the cat landed!

Next stop Titusville. Our dinghy davits had arrived, so Dick had his next day planned. The installation went quite smoothly, and we are pleased with the quality of the davits. Now our dinghy rides out of the water, no longer available to barnacles looking for a home. With our enclosure and the davits, we are really looking like a true cruising boat now. Speaking of enclosure, we are already pleased with its effectivenss. It is very versatile, and we can have 1, 2, 3 or all 4 panels in place. We have had several rainy periods already, and it is wonderful to stay dry during a rainstorm. And Dick has found that he is much less fatigued at the end of a travel day, with the protection from the wind. It was a lot of work, but is already very useful.

While in Titusville, we visited Cliff and Judy again in their comfortable Florida home. Love that screen porch! We had a great dinner and enjoyed an evening with them. We won't tell who cooked the burgers, but they were excellent! Also while in Titusville, we spent an afternoon with Dawn and Rob Zimmerman. Dawn is the sister of Karen's best friend from high school, and it has been 43 years since they have seen each other!!! Dawn and Rob cruised and lived aboard a Tartan 34 for 9 years, spending time in the Bahamas and the Keys, so it was a lot of fun to chat with them.

In Titusville, we had our first manatee sighting! We saw several swimming in the marina, and one swam by and under the boat. We think it may have cleaned off the knotmeter, as it is now working again!

Then on to Daytona Beach. Tide was against us, and so was the wind, so we powered all the way. It was a long day. The engine was running a bit warm all day, so the morning after we arrived in Daytona, Dick cleaned the heat exchanger and replaced the anode. It was definitely time to do this. Our friends Linda and Ed invited us to their house for dinner. Again, another great meal and an enjoyable evening with friends.

Today the engine temperature was back in the "comfort zone" again, so Dick's work yesterday seems to have solved the overheating problem. Tonight we are at Palm Coast Marina. This is a new spot for us, but a good place to be. And there is free Wifi!! This is the first time we have had a good Wifi connection since leaving Stuart. Hopefully we'll be able to post more often now to the blog, as our experience moving south was that Wifi availability was better north of Florida.

Next stop: St. Augustine, then Jacksonville Beach, and we'll be saying farewell to Florida for this year!