Cocoa, Fl

So we did leave in the morning and motored down to Cocoa without event. Nice little marina, the best showers I have ever seen. Cheap clean laundry facilities, nice people. Top of our list. We spent the day doing boat stuff. I managed to visit historic Cocoa Village, small but packed with great shopping withing walking distance of the marina. Tom was able to get everything he needed and change the fuel filter. Laundry was done.
For dinner we went out, our 19th wedding anniversary today. I happened on a Brazilian churroscaria while shopping today (see pic of new purse at www.picasaweb.google.com/bcaldoc), so we went there. Brazilian food is always our favorite. This place was called Brasas and the food was divine. We both ate a ton, more than we wanted, you just can't refuse. We always wonder how they get such tasty meat. Neat little dinner rolls, tiny puffs of cheese flavored yucca flour, no gluten, Jim would like them. Tasty! I looked up the recipe as soon as we got back. Looks easy, called po-de-queijo. Next year we will return to this restaurant and marina for sure.

Stuart, Fl
We continued on from Cocoa down the ICW, motoring all the way, into the wind. Encountered our first bit of bad weather with a minor rain storm on the second day. Cool last night and this morning, down to 13C. Sun is back today though.
Engine troubles on the way, especially yesterday, it kept cutting out. Reminiscent of our first year, when we had bad fuel and had to dump both tanks. I hope we don't have to do that again! We tightened and tightened the fuel filter, with our new strap wrench we picked up in Cocoa. Seemed to help. Today we replaced the filter again, even though it was new. Tom tightened all the spots where air might get in to the engine and now we will see. We are heading down the Okeechobee next, should be some mechanic type help at Indian Town if we are still in trouble. Wish we had Orlando, the super mechanic in Bimini who saved our sailing life 4 years ago, from an early demise.
Stopped in at Sebastian River Marina, better than the Sebastian Inlet marina, both have nice people, but this one is slightly more protected. Still not great. Deserted place too, not a soul there after hours. No transients but ourselves, no live aboards. The only place to walk the dogs was beside US1, a busy highway, or into the trailer park across the highway. We had planned to skip Sebastian, but Vero beach had no spots.
Today we explored Stuart by rental car. Got a fair bit of shopping done, both grocery and West Marine. Loaded up on big items like wine and dog food. Picked up the 50 to 30amp converter cord. Much better by car, than by bike. Stuart has a lovely little historic downtown and we stopped into a sidewalk café called Osceola Street Cafe, for the best lunch I have had in a long time. Absolutely delicious chicken pannini, shrimp salad for Tom. Our waitress had an interesting story, she is an aspiring golf pro who is leaving in a few months for Europe to try her luck qualifying for their tour. Best of luck Marie.
I am really taken with our marina, called Mariner's Cay in Stuart. It is situated in a gated community which is very pretty and well looked after. Visited a bead shop on the way home from lunch, and a yarn store next to West Marine. That plus cheap restaurants with great food, and lots of parks and conservation areas, and surrounded by water. What's not to like? I could stay here. It will definitely be on our list, for when we decide to stop sailing.