Photo shows Bald Eagle chicks waiting for a feed

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After a last minute engine glitch we finally left Green Cove Springs Yard on 30th March. We anchored off Frank and Pams place for the first night and Frank came aboard for a farewell beer.

Coming down the St Johns River next day we tied up on the free dock at Jacksonville Landing so we could pick up a few fresh stores. With 'Hooters' and about ten other restaurants/bars/clubs there we decided to opt for a quiet night and moved on further south to a secluded anchorage. Although we didn't see Manatees that night we heard them snorting past the boat when we were in bed.

We have to take Quilcene out of the US for a couple of weeks before we can renew our cruising permit, so we are initially heading south.

We joined the Intra-coastal waterway near the mouth of the St Johns River and are making our way down to Fort Worth. From there on, the waterway becomes somewhat shallow with more bascule (opening) bridges so we'll head out to the sea, or more correctly the Atlantic Ocean.

The intra-coastal is a 4800km waterway that runs from Norfolk in Virginia to Key West in Florida. It consists of natural inlets, salt-water rivers , bays, lakes and man-made canals. Some of the lakes are miles wide but we have to stick to the dredged and marked channel as it's mostly very shallow. Most nights we anchor on the edges of the channel in the deeper areas, but we resorted to a marina once as we couldn't find a deepwater anchorage. That was cool because we could wander out to an Irish pub for a sundowner.

The waterway is a great place to see wildlife; we've seen lots of dolphins, a few manatees, alligators, wood storks, and lots of pelicans and bald eagles along the way, not to mention all the other things we couldn't identify! In places it's lined with houses, most of which have their own private docks.

At Titusville we picked up a mooring for a couple of nights and had a day off! We visited the Kennedy Space Centre and had a wonderful time. It's so interesting to see the story of space exploration and it is so well presented. Of course it all happened within our lifetime too so we remember the various milestones,but this gave us an opportunity to learn about it in more detail. Well worth a visit!

We are currently on a mooring at Vero Beach, a good mooring field tucked in behind an island, it has all facilities and a free bus to the shops or the beach. It's so good that Cruisers call it 'Velcro' beach as many like it so much they stick here!

Sadly for us we must be on our way again tomorrow