Not a lot happening that is of interest. Just hanging out and relaxing. Things should get hopping later this week when we see a weather window for crossing to the Bahamas.
Warm and sunny here - I put up all the sunshades to try and keep the boat cool. It was 83 degrees inside.....
The view at sunrise. In the view is Esmerelda - another Manta. We met the owner last year when we were here.
And strangely, the sunset looks almost identical!
We made the 48 mile run south to Vero Beach - the intercoastal waterway was just covered with speeding power boats. We've seen this phenomena before when we are unlucky enough to be traveling on a holiday weekend. (To tell you the truth, I didn't even think about what day it was when we set out). On a normal weekday, we are passed by 5-10 power boats. Today we were passed by literally a 100 or more. Their wakes rock our boat and makes things just generally uncomfortable. Glad that's over!
Made it to Vero in the late afternoon. Got fuel/water/pumpout.... We are rafted up with What If on a mooring ball and will be here for a few days while we sort out a crossing to the Bahamas.
Enjoying our time and the free dock.
Went for a walk - the town was a ghost town yesterday, but was 100% back to life today. We wandered thru the amazing Travis hardware store. I know, sounds mundane....
But trust me, it was interesting. The store encompasses almost an entire city block. The narrow aisles are just stuffed with every piece of hardware imaginable floor-to-ceiling.
And we wandered around the waterfront a bit, masks in hand and way from anyone. I assume this is a tourist boat but I didn't see any activity around it.
A better view of Sojourn at the dock.
Hope everyone had a relaxing Thanksgiving!
We woke to some "bird noise"....and found that they had decided to take up a roost all over our boat.
I thought they were all-black but this shows how pretty an shimmery blue they were. This one has his breakfast with him. Needless to say, I didn't want them pooping all over my boat - so I made a bunch of noise and banged on the rigging with my hands to shoo them away. That seems to have been enough as they didn't return.
Later we moved the boats over to the Cocoa municipal dock. It was recently rebuilt after being destroyed in a hurricane. They allow "Intercoastal Cruisers" to stay 48 hours for free! Very nice! We got settled and took a stroll around the area - masks in hand in case we came close to anyone. But since it was Thanksgiving everything was shut down and we were virtually alone. Late in the day we went to What If for a wonderful Thanksgiving meal - and topped it off with Cathy's homemade pecan pie. One game of cards and we were ready to sleep it off!
And news from home - Charlie sent me these photos of the yard by the hangar.
The grass is filling in nicely!
Since there is not a great weather window for us to cross the gulf stream in the next week or so, we're taking it easy on the way south. Just hung out at anchor and Ed got his welding repair done at a local shop. He's glad to have that chore done since the holiday is likely to close everything down.
It was my turn to cook dinner - and we hadn't had fresh bread in a while. Got back into the swing of things easily.
Half of the recipe made savory breadsticks.
And half made cinnamon rolls.
Was happy to see the 6 month old yeast did just fine. Ready for the oven.
Forgot to snap a photo of the whole pan....here's all that was left....
And a very peaceful night at anchor, all the windows and doors open, cool and comfy.
We were up at first light since we had a long day ahead to make it to Cocoa Beach.
Sunrise at Daytona.
Uneventful long motoring day. This is Kennedy Space Center in the distance. The SpaceX rocket is over there ready for lanch tonight!
Anchored near the bridge at Cocoa Beach....perfect location to view the rocket launch tonight.
Rafted up the boats so we could just walk from one to the other for visiting tonight. Did a little bo-bo to What If's railing - we'll have to get a welder to fix it in the next couple of days.
After a yummy red beans/rice/cornbread meal on What If, we played a game of hearts awaiting the 9:13PM launch. Pitch black one moment.
And rumble was heard - the sky got rather bright - at exactly 9:13PM.
And we could clearly see the rocket blasting off.
It's carrying 60 of the satellites for the futuristic worldwide internet. Way cool.
Up early and underway. Overcast to start with.
Lots of bridges as usual.
And the scenery is starting to look tropical.
Saw a few helicopters - I believe these are Chinooks. They sure are loud!
Made it to Daytona Beach. Dinner aboard Sojourn was a very spicy curry.
Should make it to Cocoa Beach tomorrow and we will have a grand view of the SpaceX launch!!
Calm in the mooring field - rain showers on and off but nice and warm - changed into shorts again. Hope the long pants are finished for the winter!!
Pretty rainbow with one of the passing showers.
We're right up near the seawall in St. Augustine. The fort (Castillo de San Marcos National Monument) is within a stones throw and so is the lovely old downtown, all decked out in holiday cheer. For hours, we saw a queue of folks trying to tour the fort about 50 people long. Some with masks, others not.
That's it for today, tomorrow will be an early start and we'll head down the intercoastal waterway for a few days since the seas have built up to about 6' offshore - which we could do but it would be No.Fun!
We started the trip, as always - down the intercoastal waterway towards Beaufort, NC.
Always fun to see the other interesting boats.
Such a beautiful day!!
Helicopter practicing at the Beaufort airport.
And I always get a kick out of seeing what's happening at the phospate plant.
Another working fishing boat.
And a few hours later we were headed out to the open seas at Beaufort.
We had three beautiful sunsets.
Passed several of these huge cargo ships anchored out side of Charleston Harbor.
On the third day, we decided to duck into St. Augustine...we were all a bit tired. Got a nice free boat wash with precious fresh water!
Duane picking up the mooring ball.
That's about it for now. It's naptime!!
Short update, internet very spotty. We're about 10 mi offshore east of Hilton Head. Having a great sail wing on wing. We decided in the middle of the night that the winds were going to be okay for us to go on and proceed at least one more day south.
Approaching a slew of anchor cargo ships now just off Hilton Head. Wind is about 20 knots seas are about 4 to 5 ft but mostly big swells from behind. The ride is fairly comfortable, and the temp is pretty comfortable too! Hope to make it to Fernandina Beach or possibly even further south by tomorrow morning.
