Finally on Monday Jan. 8th the freezing temperatures and winds eased up, although now it was pouring rain. We had enough of sitting waiting, so we left for our journey down through the ICW. First stop was Melbourne 28.05.465 - 080. 35.357 and were lucky that the rain stopped just before we turned in to set anchor. First night at anchor of the Season, such a nice feeling.

Next day, sunny and nice on the go again to Vero Beach 27.39.237 - 080.22.307, where we again were lucky as the torrential rain started couple of minutes after we were securely tied off the boat we were rafted to. Vero Beach is one of our favourite stops and normally we stay several days, however without a dinghy, not able to get to shore.

On the go again Wednesday morning, the rain had stopped, however, it was quite foggy, we even had to turn on our radar for awhile until the fog lifted. Arrived around Hobe Sound 27.02.000 - 080.06.494 late afternoon in calm winds and sunny.

One thing I should mention is that since we left Titusville Monday morning, every day we have had numerous dolphins playing around us. It appears, they also enjoyed that the cold temperatures were finally over so they could come out and play.

From Hobe Sound we only had a short distance but with 5 bridges to pass,before North Palm Beach, where we wanted to arrive around 15:00 at high tide. We therefor had a very leisurely slow trip, no rushing to catch the bridge openings.

Just after we had tied up at our friends Jan & Wayne's dock in North Palm Beach. The most beautiful double 🌈 rainbow appeared. We truly hope that it means good luck for the rest of the Season. We have had some fun evenings and dinners with Jan & Wayne. As well we also managed to meet up with Linda & Maurice before they left to go back to the even colder North.

Tuesday Paul is going to drive down to Fort Lauderdale with a friends truck, then bring back our refurbished dinghy. When we have that back, we are then ready to cross. The boat has already been stocked up with food, beer, water, wine & liqueur. No room for more.

We have decided to cross from here instead of going all the way down to Miami. Hopefully we do not have to wait too long for a favourable weather window.

Will report back when our departure date for the crossing has been settled.

Paul & Helle
R'Liberty