Sat 14 Apr 2012
Cocoa Village Marina, Cocoa, FL

[photo: Cocoa village Playhouse]

Our choice to stay at the marina, and especially in this portion where we are protected from the strong SE winds, was a good one. The wind howled last night (along with a little welcome rain) and it continues to blow this morning. It is forecast to be mostly cloudy all day, so that will put a damper on the battery charging by our solar panels. We can easily go a day on just batteries and they will charge fully tomorrow when we are motor-sailing for 10 hours.

It is now 1500 and we are both pretty beat. The morning was completely overcast and very breezy so the boat was cool, although not cold. Before dawn, we were up and went over to start the laundry. The office/lounge wasn't yet open so I read on the veranda for a bit - very relaxing.

Diane suggested I make the meal for tomorrow since we might not get to stop until near dark. It is a delicious medley of onions, peppers, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, and pieces of poached chicken all mixed with tortellini pasta in a homemade basil pesto we brought from home. It only took one large pot because you just cook in batches. It takes longer but makes for less fuss and easier clean-up.

While Duane was cooking, Diane had a one-hour workout trying to make the v-berth mattress up with sheets. She really was frustrated with it and all I could do was offer words of encouragement. After that there were the minor repairs to be done after securing the parts yesterday. That all went successfully and then we got the bicycles down from their current location hoisted alongside the mainsail cover. Having them up there frees up a lot of room in the aft cabin, but the first attempt to use them showed that it is more time consuming with them there. We will see what works best.

Our ride was a good one and fairly strenuous at times due to the strong wind and the surprising hills. The downtown area and the park south of the bridge are really nice, but the rest that we saw was not all that impressive. The streets are very narrow and the sidewalks are both narrow and mostly broken up. That is not to say we don't like it here; it just wasn't a friendly place to ride for us.

Back at Diva Di, I got out our water hose and filled the water tanks, then started scrubbing the decks. We have no idea how the boat gets so filthy. An hour of that and I was ready for a break. Diane is already napping.
We enjoyed appetizers and drinks on the veranda at the marina building while Jack got the grill going. Part way through, Mike from the marina took us to tour his 35 foot catamaran. It is always a good idea to see other boats and what you like and dislike about them.

Duane steamed the asparagus in a foil pouch on the grill and then added the marinated flank steak. Back on Jack and Elise's boat, we added some potatoes and a green salad and had a feast (but with moderate portions - scale at the supermarket says I am down 5 pounds so far and I feel like it).

We said our goodbyes and Diane and I remarked how we had been together with them numerous times back home, but never got to know them like we did over these two short days. It was great.