With a warm sendoff from Mike, Bejay and Eldon, we began the next phase of our voyage south today. We will miss them and the new friends we made in Stuart. Our time at Loggerhead Marina was quite special, thanks largely to the efforts of Mike and Bejay. Pot Luck Dinner every Tuesday and "Crossroads" socializing every Friday allowed us to make many new friends.

We did make it to the Miami Boat Show - by car, train, metro and people mover. Got up at 4:30 am and arrived in Miami Beach almost an hour before the show opened. The Exhibitor Area was far larger than the Annapolis Boat Show but the boat in-water experience was weak. Due to a train accident onthe track ahead of us we did not get back to our southern home until 10pm - but Mike, Bejay, Eldon, Susan, Sylvia and I still Had time for a Burger King Dinner before collapsing.

We also enjoyed our time with Burrill and Kari while in Stuart. Watched the Super Bowl with them, went to dinner out and on the boat. We hope to see
them again when we return North in the Spring.

With a 1 day car rental, yesterday we made all the stops we needed to complete outfitting and provisioning the boat for the next 5 weeks. We also dropped off Sylvia's bike at the local bike shop. Our plan is to pick it up when we return to

Stuart at the end of March or early April. Sylvia really enjoyed tooling around on the bike she so lovingly restored.

All maintenance was Completed on Sylestial Star before departure, by Shearwater Marine and yours truly. We made a little over 39 statute miles in
nice weather today without difficulty so our engine work appears to have been successful.

Right now we are at anchor near the Lake Worth Inlet. Tomorrow we will get an early start, go offshore and make a long run to our next destination, Fort Lauderdale. The weather forecast is favorable so we are looking forward to this leg of our adventure to and in southern waters.