From Trip South Fall 2011
The past few days have been up and down as we've been making lots of miles on the waterway which doesn't leave tons of time for fun or exercise. For me they go together. After we left the no-see-um infested anchorage, we motored all day to get to Daytona with plans to take a run the next morning but a cold front came through that night and we were up at 2:30 putting another anchor out because the current & wind combo was making us sit too close to another boat. By morning, it was still too windy to leave the boat and it took us forever to get those 2 anchors up. We again motored all day through a part of the waterway that we don't care for where it is very wide and the fetch for waves in that wind makes the water look brown & ugly. It was looking like we'd go another day without getting ashore and I was really starting to pout.

I was pretty addicted to the health club in Boston and in anticipation of that I bought a mat & weights so I could at least continue some portion of the strengthening routine I was so fond of. I put it all aside for the summer since we were preoccupied with backpacking. Then all of Sept & Oct we were so absorbed with getting ready that there was no time for it but now, lord knows I do have time. So, on the last passage I broke out my stuff and with the boat in motion, did a routine. Well the next day I felt like I'd been in a boxing match, my abs were so sore- I guess I've lost some muscle tone.... very nice! I had to wait 2 days before I tried again and that time was a little better. It is a bit of a skill though to pull this off with the boat swaying and seesawing but I suppose that just makes me work harder. But it doesn't take the place of going ashore!

Anyway, we pulled in to Titusville yesterday evening and Jon shuttled me ashore to Merritt Island wildlife refuge so I could burn some calories. Turns out there is a beautiful trail right there and it is absolutely filled with birds. There were even roseate spoonbills which are hot pink- even more striking than a flamingo and they were using their bills to feed by swaying their heads back & forth along the surface. Because it was dusk, all the birds were all out feeding and the light was perfect for making them stand out. Of course I didn't have a camera. So this morning, Jon came with me so I could show him what I'd discovered. Well, it must be the first day of bird hunting season and all the hunters were out shooting 'em up like something out of the movies. So we did walk and see some stuff but it was as if we were in the middle of a war zone and we eventually ran for cover. We saw the spoonbills high in the air vacating the area- not quite the birders paradise I had envisioned for the morning.

We decided we wanted more of this R&R so we made it a short day today and moved to Cocoa Beach where our friends on Slip Away suggested we stop. Cocoa has a beautiful waterfront park and a bustling little downtown with lots of cute shops. So we spent the afternoon there exploring.
From Trip South Fall 2011
One thing about Florida is that they have made it a priority to have as much fishing access & parks as possible. There are fishing/boat launch parks all over and nearly every bridge, of which there are many, has a park under it. There are people fishing day & night. I talked to one guy last night to practice my spanish and asked him what he was catching- he promptly replied "nada!" There are also dolphin all over the place- they come charging over to mess around with our boat wake and keel. The seabirds are perched everywhere you look and we saw a manatee today too.

We should arrive in Ft Pierce tomorrow and hopefully, pull into a slip for a few weeks while we visit with Jon's family and also install a new engine for Evergreen. We are now burning loads of oil and it is time to retire this engine and hope that the new one will be as reliable and otherwise trouble free. It's a new Yanmar like what we have but it isn't an exact replacement. We also have several "last minute" preparations to do which I will be focusing on while Jon zero's in on the engine. We are anxiously dreading this whole ordeal and hope it can go better than most boat projects we've undertaken.

I hope we can throw in some fun here & there so I can keep a smiley face.

11/20 Am uploading this now. We made it to Ft Pierce. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.