We left our anchorage in New Smyrna Beach at 5:15am on Thursday morning. It was very dark but the channel had just enough lit buoys that it wasn’t a problem. Between the buoys and the chart plotter we had no issues. We had to really keep up the speed though. I was not feeling well, I was pretty certain I had an ear infection. We had decided that I really needed to see a doctor and the walk in clinic in Eau Gallie, where we were headed for the Gam, closed at 4:00pm. We were able to use our jib to help push the boat since the wind was blowing pretty steady. We probably could have sailed a good part of the day if we hadn’t been in such a hurry. We never do this, but there is a railroad bridge that is always open that we needed to get through so we didn’t bother taking our jib down. It did make a pretty cool picture though.

We got to Eau Gallie in time to get to the clinic. It was in the art district and was decorated accordingly, very artsy for sure. We got to see a nurse practioner, who was wonderful. Our suspicions were confirmed, I had a pretty significant ear infection. She gave me antibiotics, and doubled the prescription so we would have some for next time. She also gave us another prescription for another type of antibiotic, just so we would have it. All in all it was a good experience. Unfortunately, three days later I still don’t feel very good. If I don’t improve by Tuesday we will go back to see the doctor.

We’ve spent the last three days in the Eau Gallie Civic Center at the Seven Seas Cruising Association Melbourne Gam. We had no idea what to expect. The Gam they have in Annapolis is very well attended, the anchorage next to the venue is always crowded with boats. The Islesboro Gam in Maine had lots of boats in the anchorage too. Here there were only about a dozen boats in the anchorage. There were lots more people at the Gam though. Apparently a lot of people drive here and stay in hotels. The days were full of seminars and they had a large gym full of vendors. It was almost like a miniature boat show. One of the most amusing things I saw was that one of the vendors, who was also a speaker, was Chris Parker. Chris is the weather router that cruisers listen to on the SSB radio every morning for weather reports regarding the Bahamas and the Caribbean. All cruising sailors know about him, quote him all the time, and know his voice, but like other radio personalities you don’t really know what he looks like. Well, he was wearing a shirt that said in big letters “I’m Chris Parker!” How clever is that??

The keynote speaker at the Saturday night dinner was a woman from Spain who gave a talk on cruising Cuba. We became good friends with her early in the weekend and even sat with her and her business partners at dinner. Even though right now it is still illegal for Americans to cruise to Cuba it was nice to hear about it. Better yet, if we ever manage to cross the Atlantic and cruise to Spain we have a friend there to go visit!

Tomorrow there is supposed to be an Atlas 5 rocket launch. It is the Mars Maven mission. Bill has always wanted to see a rocket launch. We are not close enough to see it well but we have decided to take the day and rent a car to drive an hour or so north and stop on a beach that is about five miles from the launch site. It’s not one of the more dramatic launches, but hopefully it will be worth the effort. Let’s hope for a good picture for my next blog!