Did I mention in an earlier blog that our friends Ian and Marlene on Gust O Wind consider a day when a cruiser does not have to outlay any cash a "gold seal day". Well these are few and far between but we have two on our way from Daytona to Vero Beach.

Ray takes Bob and Carolyn very early to the airport for their return flight home. We need to provision before getting back on Sea Sharp and Helen takes us to the Super Walmart on our way back to the Marina. We say good bye to Ray and Helen, expecting that we will see them before too long as they will resume their cruise after the holidays and are destined for Bahamas as well.

It's 120 miles to Vero Beach and we will break the trip into thirds. The weather is finally warm and we are quick to unzip all of the side pieces of the enclosure. Ray warns us that this is premature but we get some satisfaction in doing so. Our first night is spent in Mosquito Bay. This large expanse of water in the intracoastal is probably the size of Grand Lake at home but most of it has a foot or two of water. It's a great big mud puddle. The ICW is dredged like a road through the Bay and it is strange to see birds perched in the middle of this body of water with their feet on the ground., We make it about two thirds of the way through and it is getting close to dark so we just pull off the marked channel in a place where there is about 7 feet of water and drop the anchor. It is a perfectly still and clear night and there's lots of bird life around. Very pleasant indeed and despite its name, we don't experience any mosquitoes.

We wake to another spectacular morning and while the deck is covered with a heavy dew, it gets warm quite quickly. We have another pleasant day and end up in a little place called Dragon Point. We anchor in a small area along side a couple of marinas. Well, we are treated to a spectacle this Friday night. There is a parade of lights where numerous pleasure boats, both sail and power, are fully adorned with Christmas lights and parade around the harbour. There are probably twenty five boats, most of which are elaborately adorned. It gives Judy and I (in particular Judy) the first bit of Christmas spirit!