While we were here waiting for our anchor we decided to pull our dinghy out on shore and paint the registration numbers on it. We'd put the stick on numbers on it in St. Augustine and they immediately started coming off. By the time we got here, we had about one letter and two numbers left. I'd bought spray paint for plastic (including PVC) and stencils in Stuart, but we hadn't had the time and place to do the work. Yesterday the numbers were stenciled on. It isn't terribly pretty, but it's legal. So today, we put the dinghy back in the water and put the engine on it. And it was warm enough that we took it out.

We only went a short ways. We went back out the cut and headed southeast. Tyrone, one of the dock guys, said we could snorkel near the beaches there along the rocks at the edge of the island. You can see how the limestone island is eroded on the edge in the photo. That's Bud snorkeling along. I stayed in the dinghy with Fuzzy while he snorkeled, then we switched places. We didn't see too much, there were some starfish in the shallows and some other little fishes in the grassy areas. It was just nice to be in the water. We also learned that it's a lot easier to get back in the dinghy if you leave your fins on. Then you can kick with enough force to lift yourself over the side. We also tried out the little Danforth-type anchor Gary had given us. That dug right into the sand and worked great.

After we snorkeled we drifted around for a bit while Bud dangled a lure in the water. We sort of trolled and then we just motored around. All in all it was nice. Fuzzy is doing quite well in the dinghy, he was lying on a towel on the bottom and stayed there even when Bud opened up the outboard and had the dinghy up on plane. He also liked sitting on my lap in the front of the dinghy getting the wind in his face. I put a couple of more photos from today in the gallery.

It's so nice to be just taking it easy and enjoying the warmth and the sun and the water. This is much more what we had in mind when we started out. Our condolences to all of our family and friends back in the ice and snow. Hope you made it through the storm all right, and remember, we can empty out that forward cabin; it's intended for guests.