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Almost 7 hours and 46.3 NM made today one of our longest.  The current was kind to us nearly all day, approaching an inlet at the outgoing tide and getting a push as the tide reversed shortly thereafter to a flood (incoming). My old pace of 7 knots turned to 9 knots frequently, making our 7 ½ hour projection become less than seven.

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We got some local knowledge for St. Augustine from the dockmaster and took off walking.  We walked almost 2 hours looking and also bought trolley tickets for a city tour tomorrow morning. 

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The town is gorgeous, and like Savannah, loaded with history.  I do look forward to seeing and learning.  We will stay here 2 nights so we can take advantage of the full day tomorrow.  We plan to tour the town, go to a winery, a distillery, a chocolate factory, and a museum.

When we got back to the marina, we stopped at Hurricane Patti’s the restaurant on site.  We got a beer and some appetizers, called it dinner, and Amanda went to bed.  I did my routine writing and uploading pictures and was soon snoozing myself.

Mosquito Lagoon to Daytona (Halifax Marina)

It was such a lovely night in what seemed like the middle of nowhere.  We weren’t that far from civilization, but the nice breeze, absence of artificial light, and the cool temperature delivered a good night’s sleep. My latest discovery is an anchor app called Anchor Pro.  It is simple to use and the alarm is a car horn that will wake the dead, if the boat starts dragging anchor.  Leaving it on at night provides a level of comfort, knowing I will be notified if we drift outside the parameters.

We puttered through New Smyrna on to Daytona.  It is Sunday, so we accessed Compassion Christian Church on the iPad and listened to Cam teach and preach from the pilot house (instead of the pulpit) :).  Sunday has to be the worst day on the water.  I admit, we all need to be in church, and nobody misses the fellowship of gathering more than I do right now.  But since we can’t, people are congregating on the water.  And it is my humble (okay, maybe more like critical) opinion that most of the people have learned no more about the rules of boat etiquette and navigation than they have from the sermons they would normally be hearing on Sunday morning.  Defensively driving quickly reminded why I try to stay in a marina on the weekends.  I’ve been the owner of a little boat for 40 years and a big boat less than two.  I always feared the big boats.  Their size intimidates and their wakes can be devastating to a small craft.  But apparently, the boat I now own is invisible.  People pull out in front of us like we can stop on a dime.  They merge into the ICW in their 14’ aluminum fishing boats ahead of us, and then slow down.  Stopping 36,000 pounds happens over a couple hundred feet, but these folks are clueless. Steve, in his 70 footer, told me later he wished he had a paint ball gun today.  Pontoon boats almost run into us from the rear end and then dart around us like we are a dead dog in the road.  They must want a view of the inside of our boat because they pass so closely they could step off their own and onto ours.

But the sermon I heard today reminded me that I just don’t know what is going on in their lives and I need to be kind and understanding in situations like these.  So, I smile, grit my teeth, and say, “bless their heart.”

We arrived at Halifax Marina mid afternoon.  Amanda observed that Halifax is the first marina we have been to twice.  It was one of our stops after buying the boat in January of 2019.  I suddenly felt so…experienced.  I was able to go directly to our assigned slip without detailed instructions. Halifax is a nice marina, very large, and very well maintained by the city of Daytona. The boats seem to be of higher quality than in many marinas, and people do take care of their boats. Halifax is also a great hurricane hole. Apparently, it has survived a number of storms over the years with little to no damage.

After we got settled and had our little nap (during the rain), the Muck’s and us walked the downtown area of Daytona.  Depressing would be an understatement.  Nothing was open that was still in business and the rest of the buildings on main street were empty.  We got some exercise by walking, but we literally never set foot in a store. 

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When we had had all the excitement we could handle, we backtracked to the Chart House adjacent to the marina.  One of our favorite restaurants back home, this one equaled the high standard.  We enjoyed salmon, crab, shrimp, prime rib, calamari, and mud pie for dessert. What a delightful meal.  We walked the short distance back to the boat where I worked on and got current on the blog (finally!).  I don’t know what I will do with all the time on my hands when we get home.  I suppose I’ll need to find a new adventure.  Maybe I will write short stories, like 1 page long. Somehow, I just don’t think my talking about cutting grass on the tractor all day will have the same charm and appeal this boat trip has delivered.

A week in Titusville and then to Mosquito Lagoon (New Smyrna Beach)

We paid for a week with intentions to leave immediately after the launch on Wednesday afternoon.  We spent these days chilling out, reading, walking, and doing routine chores of living on a boat.  As much as we enjoy anchoring out (free), a week of it wears on the body.  I normally awake at least once in the night, to make sure my anchor is holding well, and that the anchor of the neighboring boat is doing the same.  So, being in a marina (even an old one) provides a better quality of sleep for the old captain.  For that, I am very grateful.

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The rainy season is now underway for the east coast of Florida.  Our days on the water since leaving Marathon have shown us that.  Thunderstorms continue to be a part of nearly every day.  Monday, we got lots of rain and stiff 20 knot winds out of the east. We spent the afternoon with Steve and Susie on their boat, plotting our course for the next week or so.  Rocking and rolling on their boat, even though we were tied up with many fenders out, made for a pretty unpleasant day.  By the time we finished our planning, we felt like we had been at sea all day in 4-5’ waves.  This was certainly not one of our more enjoyable days.

Tuesday night, John and Karen came from New Smyrna to visit us.  We met them last year at a marina just south of Chicago.  The marina was their home marina and they were gracious enough to keep an eye on our boat while we were in Savannah for Emmaus and our barn dance.  We became friends instantly.  They have a second home in New Smyrna, so they usually winter down here.  But with Covid and lots of rain in Illinois, they decided to come back here for a few days.  Last week, I texted them to see if they happened to be in the area.  They had just left home (Illinois) and were in the car driving south.  So, they came to the marina, picked us up, and took us to their favorite restaurant in Titusville. We enjoyed dinner and a visit with them.  They even let us invite Steve and Susie to tag along.

Wednesday, launch day, finally arrived.  The weather was not real cooperative, and there were rumors the mission would be postponed.  I cleaned up the boat and had it all shiny, just in time for the rain to start (you know, if you need rain, just wash your car).  Steve and I went back and forth about whether to stay on the dock to watch from the distance, take the dinghy out into the ICW, as near the launch site as the authorities would permit, or take my boat and make a fun day of it, doing lunch, watching the launch, and cruising on back in at our leisure.  As the weather became more ominous, going on our boat became the obvious choice.  We left the slip at 3:00 and cruised about an hour south, until we were almost straight in front of the launching pad.  We were still a significant distance away, but we had a great view.  I threw out the anchor and we sat on the bow chatting and talking about how cool this was. 

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The launch was scheduled for 4:33 pm.  At 4:08, the announcement came:  NO LAUNCH TODAY.  Rescheduled for Saturday, 3:22.  What a letdown.  The 4 of us were like kids who had been promised a trip to Disney but had just gotten word that Mickey and Minnie Mouse were out of town.  We pouted for a while, whined that we would not be able to witness this historical moment, and then I pulled the anchor and we puttered back to the marina.  Thursday, our plan is to move on northward.  Maybe someday, we can be back and see a launch, up close.  For this one, we will have to enjoy it on television.

We did enjoy what we thought was our last meal in Titusville that night.  The ladies had been to the fish market on Tuesday, buying shrimp and tuna.  We had a fancy meal of tuna steaks, orzo salad, and Brussel sprouts on their boat. We ate till we hurt, and after about 5 yawns each, Amanda and I waddled back to our boat.  She was asleep in about 5 minutes and I sat up doing what I’ve enjoyed for the last year:  writing about this incredible journey.  Yes, many days are forgettable. It certainly hasn’t been all glamour.  That is clear by some of my drier moments of writing.  But isn’t that, too, just like life itself?Not every day holds a memorable event.  The days of the mundane routine are what make the special days, special.  Today was a good reminder that some of the days, your rocket just can’t get off the ground.  But I’m lucky enough to have a rocket and most days, it does take off.

I woke up Thursday morning to a text from Steve.  He said his bride was REALLY interested in seeing the launch on Saturday.  Amanda was all about it, so we made the decision to stay, hoping the weather would cooperate and not delay the launch till Sunday.

Thursday is a complete blur, so not much must have happened.  We talked about renting a car and getting off the boat, just to break up the boredom.  That plan materialized and Friday morning, so Steve and I caught an Uber to the car rental place. We picked up the car, ran by the drug store, and swung back by the marina to pick up the girls.  It was now well past lunchtime so we talked about where to go for lunch.  The Uber driver had told us about a place we passed on the way to pick up the rental.  It was called:  Loyd Have Mercy. 

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We didn’t know the details at the time, but it was recently featured on the Food Network show, Restaurant Impossible.  Purely soul food, we were there for fried chicken and veggies.  We were immediately seated, ordered ice tea, and then proceeded to order meat loaf, fried chicken, chicken livers, collard greens, mashed potatoes, and fried green tomatoes. Man, we pigged out.  As we wrapped up (a few quiet burps), Andrew Loyd walked by our table.  Steve told him how much we enjoyed lunch.  From there, we interviewed him and got all the details of his “success” story.  He had planned to close the restaurant when the producers of Restaurant Impossible gave him a call.  Long story short, the show saved his business.  He told us about the whole experience with Robert Irvine, the host of the show. Andrew’s business was up 75% when the word got out. He was $60,000 in debt, before.  Covid temporarily slowed things down for him, but business is slowly picking back up.  Since the filming in January, he has been able to pay down a chunk of the debt, and if things stay on track, he said he would be out of debt by the end of June.  What a great, humble guy.  A part time preacher, he clearly said the call from the show was Divine Intervention.  And now that his place has been mentioned in this blog, his business is destined to grow exponentially. We enjoyed the conversation as much as the lunch.

Titusville is just north of Cocoa Beach.  So, after lunch we headed that way.  Cocoa is a nice town, catering to tourists.  We split from the ladies and they did “girl stuff” (I’m over 60, so I can still get away with saying that). Steve and I went to the hardware store.  The Travis Company is one of those old hardware stores like you grew up with.  For the Savannah readers, you will remember White Hardware.  It was so much like that.  Compartmentalized, 2 stories, and rambling aisles that seem to have no real order, I enjoyed it so much I felt like I should have paid an admission price at the door. Steve and I made small purchases for items we needed on the boat.  From there, we looked for a place where Steve could get a haircut.  He really looks rough.  But no luck in barber shops or beauty shops, so we ended up at the ice cream shop, which was much more fun.  Having had all the fun we could, we piled back into the car and headed back to exciting Titusville.

Saturday morning, Amanda and the Muck’s went to the grocery and I went walking and got the boat ready for the next leg of the journey.  Check out time is 11, so we packed the refrigerator with the groceries, and headed back to our observation spot on the ICW for the launch.  We rafted up with All Talk II, grilled burgers and hot dogs, and added bean salad and potato salad to our menu.  We ate lunch, watched the hype of the build up to the launch on TV, took a short snooze, and then got ready for the launch of a lifetime at 3:22 pm. 

With questionable weather, we wondered if we would be stuck another night in Titusville, to wait on the Sunday attempt at the launch.  But the weather cooperated today and at exactly 3:22 pm, the launch took place, without a hitch.  I must admit, it was pretty exciting.  Watching that fire ball lift off the ground in front of us, feeling the boat shake, and then seeing then seeing it disappear into the clouds in just a few short seconds was nothing short of spectacular. I’m still laughing at Amanda’s reaction. I videoed the whole thing and her “noises” were better than any professional play by play commentary. I’m trying to figure out how to post videos on this blog. I’m working on that, but I probably need a little techy advice. She really is funny, and the launch is awesome.

We did make the right decision to stay for the launch on Saturday.

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With the launch behind us, we boated about 20 miles north and arrived just south of New Smyrna Beach just after 7 pm.  We anchored in Mosquito Lagoon.  Fortunately, most of the mosquitoes took the night off.  We had a nice breeze keeping us comfortable all night.  Amanda and I watched a Hallmark movie and we turned in for the night.  

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Tomorrow, we will be in Daytona, as we draw closer to our Loop completion.

Melbourne to Titusville City Marina

Our ride was only 27.3 NM and remarkably quiet (limited boat traffic).  Rising early on a Saturday did help, as most boaters are pretty slow out of the tracks on the weekend.  We made it to the Titusville City Marina at exactly noon, the earliest check-in time.  We had been told they were going to squeeze us on the face dock because they were so full.  Being on face docks are the norm for All Talk II (Steve & Susie).  Their boat is so long, that most marinas don’t have slips deep enough to accommodate them. But I was not particularly pleased that we would have to be on one, as well.  Face docks usually mean more boat traffic coming and going (many boaters don’t understand the term “no wake”). And on the face dock, the boat is at the furthest point from the marina store, restrooms, and anything else that is going on. Titusville was no different, except the face dock they were put on also served as the break wall for the marina entrance.  All the winds from the east and the wakes from the ICW hit that break wall.  Now, with their 70’ boat tied to the break wall, they would take the initial “hit” from the wave activity, and then bounce off the wall during rough conditions.

But luck was with us. The marina had a slip that would accommodate our boat.  It was near the gate, restrooms, and marina store.  We were grateful to have a slip well away from the marina entrance. The location provided good shelter from the winds, as well, so most of our stay was still and steady.

Titusville Marina was adequate.  Not fancy, just adequate. It provided all our needs.  And after being on the hook for 6 straight nights, we were glad to be tied to cleats on a dock for a few days.  But, Marlin Bay in Marathon had raised the bar for marinas, so we were a little disappointed in Titusville.  I had to have a little talk with myself. We had been spoiled in the Keys and there are very few marinas that meet the Marlin Bay standard.  Many boats are home for these marina folks, and it is apparent they struggle to be able to afford to take good care of them.  This experience was good for me, reminding me how fortunate I am, and I needed to measure my attitude toward others who have not been equally blessed.  

Our main reason for stopping in Titusville, however, was the rocket launch.  This is the host town for NASA.  The first manned spacecraft was scheduled for Wednesday, May 27, 2020, and we wanted to be as close as possible to experience the whole event.  It has been 9 years since a manned spaceship has been launched.

I know I have mentioned the term “crossing your wake” since we began this journey. Simply, it means that at the end of your journey, you arrive at your starting point of The Great Loop. Though we bought the boat in Stuart, Florida, we declared Savannah as our our official Great Loop starting position. That said, we passed through Stuart a couple days ago. At some point, we had mentioned to Steve and Susie remembered we had bought the boat there, so technically, we had crossed our first wake. When the boat crosses its wake, tradition dictates a big celebration. Since the crossing is normally your home port, you hope friends and family will be there to hoop and holler, and join in your celebration of a successful 6,000 mile journey. We passed through Stuart without a thought of the crossing, but Steve and Susie had not forgotten. Twenty minutes after we were secured to the dock, a knock was at the boat door. They were standing there with bags in their hands. We welcomed them aboard, of course. And then they opened up the bag.

I was so surprised they had remembered the Stuart conversation. But here they were, bringing the party, ready to celebrate with us. Amanda started opening the bottle (I’ve never opened a bottle in my life) when Steve suggested we might want to open it outside. We walked out on the back porch of the boat. I started untwisting the wires and noticed the cork moving. I aimed the bottle away from the boat, toward the street and POP! the cork landed on the sidewalk about 40′ from the boat. I would have had a hole in the ceiling if we had stayed inside. We laughed and celebrated, naming this event the pre-party, warm up for the official celebration when we arrive in Savannah. We drank a little bubbly, had lunch, and laughed at ourselves.

That afternoon, we took a walk in the area, ready to stretch our legs after 6 straight days of not touching land.

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The exercise felt great and we looked forward to a few days of vegging out.

Ft. Pierce to N. Melbourne

On the fly, we decided to stretch the day a little longer than the original plan of 44 NM.  We pushed it 51.1 to an alternate anchorage, which would allow us to get a little closer to the Titusville Marina destination Saturday.  I like to limit the weekend time on the water, when possible; there are so many people out on the weekends.

The most exciting thing about today was passing the NASA Center. Titusville is home of the space launches and we look forward to seeing the first manned space launch in 9 years. Currently, it is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.

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With winds forecasted 10-15 out of the Southeast, we anchored on the North side of the bridge, providing nice protection for the brisk ocean breezes just a short distance away. We were near Patrick Air Force Base, but the activity from planes was virtually nonexistent so we enjoyed a relaxing evening and quiet night on the water. The vehicle traffic calmed down by 6 pm, making the anchorage another quiet respite for the evening.

Too many days of “non-events” can get boring, but it was nice to have a day without a weather threat, worry of shallow water, or anything to envy. Amanda prepared a gourmet dinner of grilled lamb-chops, asparagus, and mushrooms. Yum! I slaved hard over the 3 dishes I had to wash and we crashed early.

We rewarded ourselves an extra 30 minutes this morning before leaving.  The bridge opening was a little later, so we took advantage and had took smaller sips of our coffee.   The day’s forecast was perfect, with no threat of rains or storms.  More beautiful homes kept us looking.  Luxury yachts 100+ feet long are commonplace here.  The young men that work on these boats have job security.  It takes elbow grease and gallons of sweat to keep these beauties in top condition, so the cleaning and maintenance crews are full time on many boats.

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After we were underway, we reached out to Chris/Alyse Caldwell, who are from Vero Beach.  They are professional boat trainers.  We hired Chris in early 2019 to train us on our boat.  He traveled with us from Daytona Beach to Brunswick.  I learned the basics of maintenance and boat handling from Chris.  He is an excellent teacher and communicator.  His knowledge of boats is broader than most; his people skills excel, and he’s a pleasure to have around.  He built my confidence, encouraged me, and made sure I was prepared to handle a boat like this before leaving us in Brunswick. 

We rendezvoused with them in Ft. Pierce.  They suggested the Faber Cove anchorage, one much better than the one we had planned.  Then they worked out an arrangement in a private marina with one of their contacts, allowing us to park our dinghy for a couple hours.  They picked us up in their van and took us to a restaurant where we had an early dinner and a great visit.  It was good to catch up with them. I regret that I failed to get a picture of them.

Faber Cove was similar to the Sunset Basin, in that it was almost completely surrounded by land.  Nice condos on all sides, we enjoyed the anchorage with only one other boat.  We were well protected from the wind and had plenty of swing room.

We returned to the boat after dinner, I did a little blogging, Amanda did a little knitting, and we called it a day.

Today’s journey was from Sunset Basin near Ft. Lauderdale to Lake Worth-North.  We left 30 minutes ahead of Steve and Susie for a fuel stop.  One of the pleasant surprises of this trip has been the fuel economy of our slow boat.  The bonus (bad economy usually means cheaper fuel) has been the drastic reduction in the fuel prices.  After paying over $5.00/gallon (only once) in Canada last summer for diesel, I happily paid $1.94 today.  They threw in all the ice I needed and topped off our water tank.  As we pulled out of the fuel dock, Steve and Susie drove by, timing our rendezvous perfectly.

We continued our gawking at the real estate, wondering how can so many people make so much money and all congregate in one area. Often, we would say, “Surely, that’s a hotel.”  But each time the structure was a single family dwelling.  For entertainment, we’d pull up a real estate web site and check out a house.  For example, one we liked was $6.65 million.  But the pool was just too small, so we decided not to make an offer.  Our favorite sign said, “Now reduced to $4,995,000.00.”  We passed through Boca Raton, which drips with wealth. The places are immaculate.  We passed the Boca Raton Resort where Amanda and I attended a fire sprinkler convention on my 50^th birthday.  We stayed in the tower overlooking the lake, enjoyed great times with friends from the industry, and made lots of memories.  It was fun seeing it from the water side.

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Lake Worth North was a pretty anchorage.  We did get our late afternoon thunderstorm, but we can’t hold that against the anchorage. The storms are becoming quite the norm.

The anchorage, we learned later, is the neighborhood of Jack Nicolas’ home.  Wished we had known before we left.  I’d have called The Bear and asked him over for supper.  Rumor has it Tiger Woods’ home is here, too. Too bad we missed it.

Steve and Susie came over for dinner.  I threw the dinghy in the water, picked them up, and we enjoyed orzo salad, grilled chicken, asparagus, and for dessert, Blue Belle ice cream with Amanda’s famous homemade chocolate sauce.  After the sugar buzz wore off, I slept really well.

Miami Virginia Key Anchorage to Sunrise Bay/Ft. Lauderdale

We pulled out of south Miami around 7.  Our planned, shorter day, 27 NM (but still 5 hours), meant we could enjoy (rubberneck) the landscape of this first day inside the ICW.  With the number bridges we had to navigate, the pace of the day was even slower (as hard as that may be to believe).  This waterway contains some of the most expensive real estate in the world.  Our mouths hung open as we perused countless multi-million dollar homes.  And most of them have boats, correction, mega yachts sitting at the private docks.  They all are what I call “2 comma” boats and private residences.  All the properties have 2 commas in their value.  Amanda said, “I have never heard the brand names of most of these boats.”  And my reply, “you never will, dear, you never will.”

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As I mentioned, many bridges cross the ICW in the metro areas.  Most are low enough to require opening for our passage.  We frequently wait for the next scheduled opening.  Bridges open either on the hour and half hour or on the quarter and three quarter hour.  So, once you get into the rhythm, seldom is our wait more than 5 minutes but our pace is always slow.  It’s all part of the adventure, so we remember we aren’t on a schedule and try to soak it all in.

We arrived at the anchorage just after noon, so we had a long afternoon to chill.  Steve and Susie had stopped at a boat yard to have some minor work done on the control board of their stabilizers.  They soon caught up with us and anchored off our port side a safe distance away.  Shortly after, I was on the cockpit (back porch) writing this blog when I heard this strange knocking sound.  Amanda had stretched out on the couch in the salon, so I got up, assuming she was tapping on something in the galley.  She asked me what I was hammering outside.  As I answered that I wasn’t hammering, I heard it again.  I walked back outside and heard it again.  I had nothing running, but couldn’t figure out where it was coming from.  One last time, the knocking sounded like it was in the hull of my boat, so I leaned over the gunnel and there was Susie hanging on the side of my boat laughing at us. Steve had swum to the other side and started knocking again.  These 2 goofy friends had slipped into the water from their boat, quietly swam to ours, and started the knocking on the boat side.  They have made our trip more fun and their sense of humor keeps us guessing as to what might happen next.

Sunrise Bay is just off the ICW. A popular anchorage because it is surrounded by homes almost entirely; wind is seldom a threat from any direction.  With a nice breeze through the evening and night, we swung gently with the other boats and enjoyed stress free sleep.

Rodriguez Key to Miami (Virginia Key Anchorage)

Day 265  May 18, 2020

A restful night at Rodriguez Key and we were off to Miami shortly after 7.  The forecast wasn’t quite what we hoped for, but by no means a show stopper.  Tropical Storm Arthur, first named storm of the year, did not affect us, since most of it was working its way up the Carolina’s coast today.  That said, the partly cloudy day turned to mostly cloudy, and we did get one of those widely scattered thunderstorms shortly after our departure.  But the seas were flat and most of the day was breezy enough to keep us from getting too sweaty. We left the open water and entered Key Biscayne, south of downtown Miami.  Our plan was to anchor at a place called Miami Stadium Anchorage, but it was packed out with boats.  All Talk II and the Honey Queen backtracked about a ½ mile to the south side of the Bay Bridge, where we still had a view of the Miami skyline.  This anchorage is much more exposed to southerly winds, but the storm we were watching was north of Miami, so we felt safe. However, feelings should always be verified with facts when it comes to boating. 

Steve and Susie asked us to join them for burgers on the grille (still my favorite meal choice).  So I splashed the dink and we puttered 100 yards to their 70’ Marlow mother ship, All Talk II. We ate on the flybridge and watched the clouds grow more and more ominous. We finished eating and decided the weather wasn’t going to be as kind to us as we had forecasted.  Steve and I both have come to the conclusion that meteorology is not in our future.  We made a joint decision it was in our best interest to get our _ _ _ back to the boat, or Steve and Susie would have guests for the night. The rain started as we secured the dinghy on our swim platform.  We secured the rest of the windows just as the bottom fell out.  Then the lightning came.  Then the hail. The winds picked up and our boat (and the 70 footer, too), did almost a 360 turn in the bay.  I dragged anchor at least 300 feet. Winds peaked at 43 knots on my wind meter (we spoke to friends the next day who were anchored around the corner, who said they saw 63 on their wind meter).  I was thinking that if it was raining cats and dogs right now, they would have hit the side of our boat, not landed on top. We were rocking and I was hoping that the mast on top of the boat (aka lightning rod) would not attract any high voltage from the air waves.  I mopped water the whole time that was blowing through the windows and doors and about 20 minutes later, the storm left us and we finally exhaled.

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The worst behind us, we watched a few minutes of The Voice (my Admiral’s favorite show) before we went to bed.  We had experienced more than a widely scattered thunderstorm…it was severe. I’ll be happy to miss those in the future.

We rose early at 6:00 am to an alarm clock.  Not setting an alarm has been one of the easiest adjustments to the retired life. Forty plus years of 5:30-6:00 am have easily been replaced with being waked by the light in the room. I had a little trouble remembering how to set it, especially for that early.  My more recent talent has been setting the timer on my watch for my afternoon nap. I digress. Tom and Paula and Robert and Carolyn sacrificed their morning sleep-in and assisted the Honey Queen and All Talk II with their lines.  The marina boys had promised to be there at 7 to help, but ended up calling us on the VHF about 7:20 apologizing for missing our departure.  Though we had plenty of help and didn’t need them, they did miss out on a pretty good tip that I had planned to give them.  They have been great servants and have accommodated our stay above and beyond what we would have expected. We hope to spend time here again next year, and use Marlin Bay as a springboard to the Bahamas, if the Lord wills.

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Our journey was 47 NM and our destination Rodriguez Bay.  It was probably one of the prettiest days we’ve experienced on the Loop. We arrived early afternoon, got the anchor settled, and Steve and Susie swam over to our boat for a visit.  We hadn’t seen them since yesterday, so we had lots to catch up on.  Seriously, we have so enjoyed their sense of humor and are thrilled to have a buddy boat to plan with and to discuss destination possibilities.  And it never hurts to have a second set of eyes and ears to talk things through.

We rode the dingy over to our other friends, Ted and Robin, on the Curtis Sea, then over to Mike and Marylou’s on Enshallah.   After running out of people to talk to, we returned to our boat, had a nice hot dog dinner and then watched 60 Minutes. In case you have not heard: there’s a virus out there, the economy is in terrible shape, “certain” leaders are doing a terrible job, and the climate is getting warmer.  I felt much better informed about what is going on (because I had not heard any of this ever before).

I ran the generator for a while to get the batteries topped off for the evening, and we shut it all down for the night.  Tomorrow, we head to Miami, with the weather almost as promising for us.