Since leaving Marathon we have made stops anchoring in Rodriques Key and staying in marinas in Coconut Grove, Ft. Lauderdale and Lake Worth. Tomorrow we leave for Ft. Pierce and then on to Port Canaveral. Our learning curve life has been rewarding and educational. We have had problems with our windless, wash down pump, marine toilet and air conditioning. All seems to working as of ten minutes ago.

We caught our first fish trolling while sailing. A small black fin tuna. Between our entire crew of Sassy, Cathy and myself we were able to land the fish and then lose it as it flipped out of my hands. We have had some great fish dinners thanks to our dock mates.

We have found some great restraunts and we were excited to be able to have dinner with Bernard Godley from Harborwalk who was in Ft. Lauderdale attending a medical conference.

Sassy has met some good dog friends and enjoys her long walks and dog parks. She enjoys each new marina and gives us even more opportunites to socialize with the local dog lovers.

We have met some very interesting people and avid boaters. We met a family on a sailboat in Ft. Lauderdale who sailed to the U.S. from Sweden via the Bahamas. They left Ft. Lauderdale for Bermuda so they could race back to Florida and then sail home to Sweden via the UK.

The Eastern Coast of Florida has some great boating communities with some of the largest mega-yachts that we have ever seen. We are hoping to get closer to Cape Canaveral to view the last shuttle launch.

The attached picture is of Peanut Island in Lake Worth. It is a regional park that hosts hundreds of boating families each weekend. We took this picture from our dock on a Sunday afternoon. There is a bomb shelter on the island that was built for use by JFK. The island reminded us of a boating island that we saw while on a cruise ship in Venice, Italy (without the palm trees).

We have been traveling the last two Sundays and have missed our church community. Looking forward to attending church in Ft. Pierce. The marina manager says there is one on the island.

Next blog from the Cape.

Blessings to all,

Bill & Cathy