Our second day of transit south on Friday sa3 us run from VeroBeach to Stuart.

About ten miles south of Vero the Indian River ends at the Fort Pierce inlet--and with a vengeance!

As we passed the inlet at the height of ebb tide (about halfway through the period when the current is strongest), we went from 6 knots with the current to 3.5 against the current!

Not only that, the current 'curves' from the river into the inlet. As a result we were 'crabbing' to starboard nearly 20 degrees (a lot) as we motored through the inlet.

I would have taken a picture of the instruments but the channel was surprisingly narrow and lots of traffic kept me very focused on navigating the boat safely.

Under normal sailing conditions it usually looks and feels like you're going straight forward. But as we passed through the inlet I felt like an airline pilot trying to land a plane in cross winds: the side of our port boat was moving forward (at an angle) instead of the front of the boat!

We’re so thankful to be back in the tide and out of the Indian River. It was nice not to have tides but the barnacles are absolutely horrible.

I will have to dive the boat in Key Largo to scrape barnacles formed over just 3 months. They’re so thick, or developed, they’re creating vibration in the drives and slowing us more than a full knot of speed.

We left Melbourne this morning and motored down to Vero Beach; otherwise known as a Velcro Beach because the city is so nice and cruiser-friendly.

The stretch of the ICW we transited today has the unusual feature of islets running down the middle of the river. Sometimes sand bars run from one to the next. You can see both features in the picture above.

We’re still anchored at Dragon Point in Melbourne, FL for mother day: it was just too cold and windy to sail today.

Yes, we’re spoiled sailors! We’re also retired and NOT on a schedule.

Anywho, it gave us another opportunity to get a shot of the dolphin pod that lives here. I finally got mom and the juvenile after trying for a month.

It was more them than us though: Heini gave a warning yelp, I grabbed the camera and got lucky as they came up for air right near me.

Tomorrow we start our journey to Key West. After the last 2 cold fronts (both of which lived up to their description) we are very anxious for warm days and clear water!

Yesterday we re-positioned for the weather this weekend, anchoring behind Baby Days. We noticed she was low in the water: https://www.flickr.com/photos/megachromeimages/38882053272/in/dateposted-public/

This morning Baby Days’ days are over, as she was sitting on the bottom: https://www.flickr.com/photos/megachromeimages/27157136399/in/dateposted-public/

We’re pretty sure no one was onboard, as we haven’t seen anybody on the boat for weeks and it had no anchor light on at night.

Still, we reported it to the Coast Guard and Banana River swing bridge operator.

Kathleen woke me at the stroke of midnight last night saying someone had been on the boat!

I got up, started asking questions and it seemed someone might STILL BE ON THE BOAT!

So I retrieved my self-defense tool and opened the cockpit door. Dew was present already and I immediately saw prints on the deck.

Thinking it was a pelican or egret I searched the back end of the boat but didn’t see anything. Heini was still going crazy so I started to go forward on the port side. About half way up the salon I saw a dark figure on all fours walk past the windlass towards the starboard side.

Now my curiosity was leaked because the profile clearly wasn’t a bird I expected based on the paw prints.

I got another couple steps and saw the figure again turning aft to walk past the salon. This time I saw a tail.

My stress dissolved as I made the starboard forward corner of the salon and saw the animal was a raccoon.

Kathleen saw it about the same time because it had moved aft and was cornered under the aft princess seat between me and her. She immediately screamed, went inside and closed the door.

I advanced, so the coon jumped into the cockpit and headed toward the other side (port). As I entered the cockpit the raccoon retreated to the sugar scoop. I grabbed the deck scrub brush and went over to properly introduce myself.

Amazingly the animal wasn’t aggressive: it didn’t move towards me or make any offensive actions or sounds. Nor did it go into the water, which is where I wanted it.

In fact, the animal sat up on its hind quarters and almost gave me sad puppy dog eyes! I say ‘almost’ because they looked that way, but since I don’t know coon expressions in any shape or form, I made the assumption based on the animal’s behavior.

Not being sufficiently intimidating enough to drive the coon back into the water, I gently moved the deck brush closer. Well all that did was drive the guy to the bottom sugar scoop step and give me a ‘what the h__l are you doing’ look!

So crazy me, I start to verbally coax the guy into the water as I moved the deck brush closer.

Unfortunately I only got him as far as the back edge of the bottom step: he still wouldn’t take the plunge. In fact, he looked at the water and back at me (almost in disbelief), then sat back up on his back end with a ‘what are you doing, there are gators in that water’ look.

By this time I’m frustrated with my inability to get rid of an unwanted guest. So I start trying to remember how we get rid of, or at least get the hint through we want them to leave, human guests who’ve outstayed their welcome. Before I could think of something the raccoon turned athwartships (facing the starboard side) and offered me the perfect target.

I closed the distance with the deck brush and gently pushed the guy into the water.

Up until this point I thought the coon was pretty small, but as I pushed him I realized the animal was probably 20 to 30 pounds. Pretty solid considering how small he was and knowing the fur is dense and bushy.

Apparently this guy was smart and had a plan already because he immediately started swimming to the starboard scoop.

Not wanting him back on the boat I went over to persuade him against climbing back aboard. He didn’t seem interested as he made the corner and turned forward alongside the hull. I lost sight of him about midship.

As I returned to the cockpit door I thought ‘what a great life.’

How many people can say they were woken up at midnight by a land creature on their boat at anchor several hundred feet from shore? Quite common for indigenous water mammals like birds, seals and sea lions; maybe even gators.

But a raccoon? Go figure!

Here's what it looks like going from where we park the dinghy to where we're anchored here in Melbourne, Florida.