In Latitude, that is: This is the furthest south we've ever cruised in the US. We are anchored in Palm Beach, just a few hundred yards further south than we got five years ago. Then, we hopped across the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas, but this year we're going to keep heading south to the Florida Keys...

But before we can do that, we're going to have to make some repairs. It seems that the extreme maneuvers associated with the bridge incident damaged something associated with our reverse gear...We can go forward just fine, but reverse can only be used in a narrow range of speeds without causing loud and nasty metallic noises....Doing things like docking and holding for bridges in close quarters requires being able to reverse reliably...We've done fine for these four nights at anchor, but before we head into southern Florida's infamous "condo canyon" we really need to fix the tranny. So tomorrow we'll head for a boatyard and do some maintenance,

Today, however, was much more fun: It's Anne's birthday and Evelyn and Leslie are busy making her a cake. The water continued its transition to the wonderful azure shades that just feel good to look at, and the temperatures finally feel like one expects in Florida: No running the heating system!