We arrived in New Smyrna Beach Florida on Saturday, December 12 around 10:30AM, and anchored just past the Harris Saxon Bridge in a protected anchorage. We were surprised to see there are some boats anchored that look to be abandoned. For sure there were some boats that need to be towed away. My feeling is that it ruins the beauty of anchoring. To me, anchoring in a bay, means there are friendly people aboard who are on the move taking a short visit to stop and smell the roses. Then they move on to their next adventure. Anyway, in spite of the abandoned boats, we found the perfect spot to watch the annual Christmas Boat parade. Once we got anchored we went for a dinghy ride and explored the area, we went through some mangroves and in and out of a couple of marinas. I almost drove over a manatee, but saw him just in time to change my course. We tied up on shore and went into the town to discover an antique car show /parade going on. It was pretty neat. There were people lined up on the street standing and sitting in chairs to view the beautiful restored cars. There were dozens of cute little shops on the street as well. We got back to the boat in time for the Christmas boat parade. Of course, I had to put our lights on in our cockpit as well. The parade reminded of a miniature Macy’s Thanksgiving day parade with the floats on the water vs. the street. They had music, people and lots of lights outlining their boats and other stuff. We loved it and did our best to cheer them on as they went by our boat. We had the best seats in the house.

The next day, December 13, we pulled anchor at 7:30AM and arrived in Coca Beach at 2:45PM where we spent the night just off of the ICW in a NE anchorage just before the Coca Bridge. A few showers passed by during the evening, making it a nice night for sleeping. We pulled anchor today, December 14, at 7:15AM with our friends on S/V "Grace V" and headed to Vero Beach. It was a warm and sunny day. During our passage we saw our first pirate ship, however, it wasn’t very threatening. I took a picture of it anyway to send to our grandsons.

We are presently in Vero Beach tied to a mooring ball with friends Jane and David on S/V "So Far So Good". Tim and Karen on S/V "Grace V" are here as well. We plan on staying for a few days while we check out the town.