So, we continue with our boat maintenance and provisioning quest at the dock in Stuart. It's a great place for this as we are on very sturdy and spacious docks and the City of Stuart has just about anything and any service you need.

There are almost 200 slips and 69 moorings. The slips are, for the most part occupied by large power vessels although there are some modest sailboats like ours as well. The moorings are almost all cruising sailboats like ours; folks hanging out, provisioning and getting ready for a weather window to go to Bahamas or the Keys. Of our neighbours on the slips, there are probably only about 25 percent who are actively on their boats; the remainder are either new boats or boats for sale and folks who use their boats occasionally or seasonally.

And, many of the occupied boats are from Canada. We meet lots of folks from Canada and US folks as well. Our days are busy; between boat maintenance, running/walking, provisioning and socializing. The marina offers great facilities to socialize; there is a wonderful patio-like area, where they provide a large barbeque and furniture for collective barbeques. There is also an indoor "Club Room" where you can watch TV, connect to internet or socialize with boaters. So there are lots of organized and impromptu events to partake. As usual, the happy hours and potlucks always end up with a cornucopia of delectable food and always great conversation with like-minded but diverse folks.

We are also fortunate in that our friends from Fredericton Sandy and Peter live in Stuart. As well, new sailing friends Chris and Deke who keep their boat in Riverside Marina have a winter home in Manatee Pocket (just on the outskirts of Stuart). So we have lots of visiting to do. Chris and Deke are also friends with our great friend Ray from Whisper and Ray comes down to look at properties so we have a great get-together.

The weather is warm (well, actually hot but I dare not complain, especially to my Canadian friends) and the days fly by with all the socializing and working. We do try to get for a long walk and/or run most days. My running still is not great but at least I'm getting out. There are pleasant places to run here and lots to see and do. On Sundays there is great music in the park. We go to the local Lyric Theatre to take in Nutcracker Suite; a very pleasant evening.

Our friends, Darius and Cathy from Breeze Hunter, who we travelled much of the winter with last year, arrive from the Chesapeake and we're really glad to see them. They're here for a while as well getting ready to cross to the Exumas and elsewhere.

We do lapse into a momentary bout of "two-foot-it is". There is a yacht broker with an office at this marina and they have several new boats on display. So for a lark we take a look at a Catalina 47, Hunter 45 and Hunter 38; all gorgeous boats but we don't have a spare $400K at this time. We do talk to the broker, however, about used boats and he tells us about a Hunter 42 Passage, located not far from here. This boat would be an ideal step up from our current boat. A bit bigger in all aspects and a centre cockpit model which is great when you have company. We take a look at her but while she's in decent condition, it's nothing like the condition of ours. So at least for now, the terrible affliction is at bay.

All in all, the days slip by and while productivity is quite low, the boat is spiffy and ready to go for the winter.