The temperature dropped through the night and the winds are steadily building. Its chilly for South Florida only in the 70's. I'm sure that will not elicit any sympathy from our friends in the frozen north.
We were up early with the help of our rock hound. India has discovered just the place to step on the bilge hatch that rocks the hatch making a noise just loud enough to shake you from a light sleep. She also does a mean ear flap and collar jingle. Somehow she has an uncanny sense of when you are just drifting between sleep and snooze. When she detects that, she begins her morning dance. Wake up wake up I want to be out and about. Come on sleepy heads get your butts out of bed. Yes we were up with the sun today. She liked it better when she could be in the berth with us all night then she could get right in your face quite literally. It kind of stinks getting old even when you are a Schnauzer. We tell her to take it up with Dr Courtney and her prescribed diet.
We had a cup of coffee in the cockpit before heading to shore for the morning walk. There is a splendid little French bakery across the street from the marina. We walked over and picked up fresh croissants to have with our second cup of coffee back on the boat. Can life get any better? It's a good thing we couldn't stay here the entire season or the water line would really be lowered by our weight gain. There are way too many tempting places close enough to walk and the dingy ride is significantly shorter than any of the other mooring fields where we have tethered LIght Reach. All that temptation could be life altering.
Scott took the jerry cans over to get diesel fuel this after breakfast. What with the current, wind and bridge waiting we went through quite a bit getting here. Prices in Ft Lauderdale are significantly higher here than in North Florida. That seems to be true of the entire state, the farther south you move the prices increase. He wanted to get that done before the weather deteriorated any further. The winds are slated to keep building through Saturday and into Sunday. That means dingy rides will come with the significant risk of the dreaded WDB. We'll want to keep them infrequent and as short as possible.
While he took care of the fuel I picked up the boat and took on the banks and bills. Lately it has been one long telephone call after another getting things sorted. I can take care of most things on line but when there is a billing error I find it easier to talk to a live being.
There is a huge boat parade slated to go right past the mooring field tomorrow night. We watched the boat docked behind us being decorated last evening. It has a huge tuna tower that they wrapped with lights from top to bottom. We are guessing it will be in the parade. It is for sale so a good opportunity for the owner to give it some exposure. The parade should be a couple of hours long and It is going to be quite the sight, and supposedly lasts a couple of hours. We are really excited to watch it.
Right now it looks like we will be able to leave on Monday for Miami. We may spend a couple of days or more there checking out Dinner Key. Friends from Marathon have been in touch and the Captain is needed for Bocce so we shan't tarry too long on our way.
The picture is of the lights seen from the port over the galley. We're trying to figure out how they got those lights in the palm fronds? Will they stay up in these winds? Things that you ponder when sitting on a mooring.