11/29/2011, Hutchinson Island, Florida

We had a nice walk through downtown Melbourne yesterday while sitting out a day for forecasted bad weather that mostly missed us. Today we were underway at 6:55 am. We traveled 61 miles down the very scenic Indian River and arrived at Nettles Island Marina by 2:30 in the afternoon. At the Fort Pierce Inlet to the ocean several sailboats we traveled with went out into the ocean with plans to sail through the night and arrive at Miami at 8am tomorrow. As we continued down the ICW we listened to the chatter among those offshore boats about how wonderful the sailing conditions were out there now that the cold front had passed by. We hope we enjoy such conditions at the end of December to travel from here down to Marathon. Marathon is on Vaca Key, only a $2.00 bus ride away from Key West.

We have traveled approximately 1,129 miles to this point in the 25 days we have actually moved the boat from one place to the next. We have about 215 more miles to go to Marathon. Dreamboat will stay here on Hutchinson Island until December 26th. Weather permitting that is our target to set sail for Marathon. Please tune in then for more news about our adventure. Today's photo is Dreamboat at the dock in Nettles Island Marina. The Captain

This a wonderful vacation with a new adventure everyday. Today was a day of beautiful houses on the shores. Glorious palm trees adorned the Florida estates. When we arrived in Nettles Island, we took a walk to the beach. We saw clear, green/blue ocean water and sailboats drifting by. Our little marina has Christmas lights all around on shore and on the boats nearby. And to top it off, this island is full of golf carts! These are a few of my favorite things: boats, water, pelicans, clear waves, and golf carts. It is just great! The Admiral

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11/27/2011

Today we motored down the Indian River past the Cape Canaveral rocket launch facility. Then the river widened out and got somewhat deeper and we saw a few local sailboats sailing around on this beautiful 80 degree Sunday afternoon. Both sides of the Indian River were lined with nice, mostly modest houses on lots filled with palm and fir trees and green lawns. The photo is an example. We have been pleasantly surprised at how lushly green everything is. We did see several more abandoned boats at anchor, and three that had been blown right up on shore and left. We are docked in Melbourne Harbor Marina. We will stay here tomorrow and tomorrow night to sit out the forecasted bad weather blowing through Monday afternoon and evening. Assuming it clears out by Tuesday morning as promised, on Tuesday we will travel about 60 more miles to Nettles Island Marina on Hutchinson Island. We have reserved a slip there for a month. The Captain.
We are docked in a marina that is known for being a hurricane hole. It's very protected from wind and we are tucked between a small bridge on one side, a park and tall condo building on the second side, and a point of land with a restaurant on the other. I've been watching a gray heron and a pelican perched on the top of the dock pilings peering down into the water, hoping for a meal. It was a quiet day compared to yesterday's rocket launch and manatee visits. The Admiral

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11/26/2011

Here is the photo of the mars rocket seconds after liftoff.

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11/26/2011, Titusville, Florida

Quite a diverse set of experiences today! This morning our slip neighbor was washing his boat and attracted a group of Manatees. Apparently they like the hose water to drink so they show up when hose water drips or runs into the water. Later in the day we decided to wash our own boat and had a repeat visit. At one time there were six of them. The shot of the back of the boat shows them lapping up the hose water as I "thoroughly rinsed" the stern of our boat. We also went with our neighbors from Maryland to watch the mars rocket launch this morning. I will try to post the best picture of that also. The Captain. The manatees were so cute. One of the boats felt sorry for me this morning when I was searching for them, so he offered to "call" them for me. In 2 minutes they were here, slurping, actually slurping from his hose. We had a repeat of the same scenario. Ours were slurping and kissing each other. I longed for a photographer with a real lens that could have caught them close up. It was certainly something I had never seen before. One of them actually had a blue nose from the boat bottom paint. We won't mention the one with the scar from the last boat he ran into. I should be gushing about the rocket launch but somehow the animals just do it for me - not mars. The Admiral

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11/25/2011, Titusville, Florida

We traveled 47 miles today down the ICW from Daytona, past Ponce De Leon Inlet and into the Indian River. From there we turned west through the drawbridge at Haulover Canal, through the (usually open) RR bridge that carries freight to Cape Canaveral, and into the marina at Titusville. We walked down the road and into town for supplies at the CVS & grocery store. We have been told to walk the marina docks and we should see Manatee swimming around the docks. We are staying here tomorrow and tomorrow night as neighbors from home are here on their boat have invited us to go with them on a drive closer to Cape Canaveral tomorrow to watch the planned rocket launch. Details will follow. The Captain

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11/24/2011, Halifax Harbour Marina

Happy Thanksgiving to all! We are here in Daytona Beach, FL after traveling only 25 miles today. We have made such good progress that we can slow down a bit. It was a windy but beautiful day and we enjoyed seeing all the different styles of houses on the ICW. Since it was Thanksgiving and about 75 degrees, many people were out fishing on their docks and waved to us. We had to call for three opening drawbridges today and the bridge tenders certainly know how to move a vessel through without holding up the traffic for too long. We're in a beautiful marina, tucked between the ICW and the condos of Beach Blvd. The dock hands run around in motor boats to help you tie up. After a walk, we had Thanksgiving dinner in the cockpit, still marveling at how we came to be on this trip at this time in our lives. We are enjoying every day so far and are very thankful to have this opportunity. The Admiral

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