Best Life

  I did it!  I woke at 4am and never fell back asleep so I was on deck when the shuttle took off at 515am, as scheduled.  Pretty cool.  We were too far to hear anything and there were clouds that blocked most of the assent, but very hard to miss in the black of the morning. Then during coffee - splishing and splashing.  Dozens and dozens of dolphins feeding on the fish in our little area.                                                                                     First they herd the fish.                                                        ...

  The sunrise this morning - beautiful!  It was a short night since we were on deck at 4am waiting for the rocket launch.  We were just south of Merritt Island and the launch site, so we thought "Cool, perfect time to witness a launch".   We could hear the roar and rushed out thinking we missed it since the original time was 2am.  After a few minutes - silence.  We missed it apparently.  So we went back to bed.  Only to find out this morning it launched about 420am.  Yup - we gave up too soon.  Next launch - tomorrow 515am.  We will try again. The fog rolled in before we could finish our coffee.  Same bridge less than an hour later. We were going nowhere fast.  So we decided to clean out one of the front lockers.  Long pants and sweatshirts - back on. Paul climbed down in there, pulled everything out and reorganized what we kept.  Three bags of trash including inflatable pool rafts that came with the boat, w...

                                         Our view from our dinner table.  Quiet Time is anchored just behind the monohull under the arrow.  Good food (fish tacos), good drinks (Margaritas) and good friends (Sally and Rick) - always a good time!                               Despite being edible - I could not bring myself to chew on the orchid.                               The dinghy ride over to the restaurant was calm and beautiful.  We have anchored here several times and are comfortable knowing we are set for the night.   It's a pretty popular spot but we have plenty of swing room and are well out of the channel.  And the welcome by the dozens of dolphin...

  Goodbye Titusville.  An early morning start in the warm sun!   No sweatshirt required!  Still, I am reluctant to put our coats away yet.  We are down to only two blankets on the bed though - maybe one tonight! A bit of boat traffic (most heading south), a manatee, few dolphin and  many pelicans made the 25 miles pass quickly.  We anchored just outside Georgiana and enjoyed quiet time in the Florida sun!   Finally! A few housekeeping chores.  A murder mystery.  Dinner and a movie.  Life at anchor!                                                                           Our "front yard" for the night.                           ...

                                         Panoramic sunrise at Mosquito Lagoon We dawdled leaving the lagoon this morning.  With only 16 miles on the agenda, we had no worries about arriving too late.  So peaceful and calm. Shorts and short sleeve shirt - perfect for the almost 70 degrees.  Even on the water, I was quite comfortable without layers! So many birds!  Some dolphins but the birds were abundant!  Must be good fishing waters.                                        Even lined up on both sides of the railroad bridge. After grabbing a mooring ball at Titusville Marina (which we executed perfectly!), we headed over by dinghy to pay, grab our key card and do a bit of walking.  Just south of the marina is Sand Point Park....

  Tonight we are watching the Super Bowl from Mosquito Lagoon.  We are the only ones anchored here and with low winds - super quiet!  Though Paul was a bit concerned about his "rabbit ears" working from essentially the middle of nowhere, the reception is actually better than it was just south of St Augustine.   Dinner always tastes better on anchor but tonight - shrimp tacos with homemade guac and homemade salsa - super yummy!  (Yes I know I keep using the word super - totally intentional!) Leaving Daytona Marina should have been a breeze.  No boats surrounding us, calm waters, lots of sunshine.  Yet somehow I had Paul toss me the wrong dock line and he wound up having to jump back on the boat and grab the helm to keep us from bumping into the dock.  (No bump occurred!) Once on course, I took over the helm so Paul could do engine checks.  Good thing too!  The port engine was leaking fuel.  What?!?  So while he diagnosed th...