Today I towed the dinghy for the first time. I left the engine in the dinghy with the prop out of the water. But after several bouncy miles, the prop fell back into the water. So then I had to move the outboard engine from the dinghy to the boat while the boats were moving slowly and the dinghy was bouncing. The channel was narrow, so I couldn’t just drift. If you had seen the first few times I moved the engine while at the dock, you would have said no way could I do this while underway. But I keep getting better and made the transfer from dinghy to boat smoothly and without drama. I didn’t say without stress.

Favorite sight - a young, pudgy looking dolphin leaping straight up into the air, clearing the water doing a pirouette and falling back in tail first ... KIDS! I saw several dolphins feeding along with various birds. There seemed to be favorite spots where they would all cluster together.

Based on the predicted wind direction, I anchored just south of the bridge on the east side. I’ve always been on the west side of the ICW, but with the prevailing wind so often being from a northerly direction, I was tired of being exposed to the river chop after a mile or two of fetch. So now I am protected. The downside is that it is a mile across the bay to the town. I go 5 knots in the dinghy - no planing with a 2.5 HP engine.

I have been working with Roger and Tari the past week trying to plan with them their final leg to Florida and to see his parents. The first few months of my trip was with them. They recently went outside from North Carolina and tried to make it to Jacksonville, FL, a 44 hour run. They ended up with a horrendous trip and didn’t make it as far as planned. But they did end up with an incredible tale. You know you’re cutting it close on fuel when you cut your trip short, anchor in the dark at the first spot you can find, and then can’t back down on the anchor because you just ran out of fuel.

They left St Augustine late this morning and are in the ocean again. This time it is a much better ride. They will come in at Port Canaveral, head down the ICW, and should meet up with me tomorrow around noon. Sunday morning they will go on, reaching their final stop at Vero Beach around noon. Then it will be time to switch over to taking care of his parents for a number of weeks. The Canadian couple, Keith and Lyn, are also at Vero Beach.

There was sad news this week from Sue on Sasha, the boat in Titusville. Her mother had a catastrophic stroke overnight. She passed away the next evening leaving behind her husband of 65 years.