Best Life

 Today's rain arrived early this morning and lasted until mid-morning.    The only thing to do - head to Walmart after breakfast.  Water filters, paper plates and other odd assorted items.  Then our main goal for the day - plant Stumpy in his new "home". A bit damp but way cooler making the job a pleasure. And with extra mulch the succulents in the front wall benefitted. Meanwhile Paul cut the new PVC boards for the seat backings and prepped them for drop off with Kelly. The plan - head to North Carolina in the early morning, pick up the "new" engine and extra parts and return to Daytona Monday night.  

Look who our neighbor is!  Wilson!  With our to do list spanning two pages, we started early this morning.  First, a 3 mile walk to borrow the car (Thank you Don).  The walk seemed shorter than I remember but so very welcome after being on the boat.   One of the biggest jobs is dealing with the cushions from our cockpit.  The back of one has totally disintegrated due to the sun.  I really do not like the scratchy material and the fact that the cushions hold water and sand.  We took them to Kelly, in Ormond,  who did our Isinglass.   The back cushions had a foam board to attach to the boat.  Two of the three broke when taken off.  Tonight we purchased new board that Paul will cut to shape and bring to Kelly to incorporate in the new seats.  I love the new color choice and fabric choice.  They should be ready in 4 weeks.   Harbor Freight had a small pressure washer that will fit nicely in one of our ...

 Up while it was still dark, we were able to leave before sunrise. With our destination 48 miles away we were happy to have a bit of wind.  Raising the sails saved us a couple hours and we arrived just after 230pm.  The ride was quiet with little traffic until just south of Ponce Inlet. My favorite spot is Haulover Canal.  A pleasant Bridge Master, a mild current, lots of wildlife - dolphins, pelicans - and polite fishermen and kayakers.                                                    I think this house boat was a DIY! Just after docking against the wall in Daytona Marina, we were visited by this cutie!  I named him Tommy Two Tone.  He found something yummy to lick off the underside of the sugar scoop! A very quick storm here at Daytona Marina.              ...

 Another early departure before the heat and hoping to arrive before any unsettled weather.  Super calm waters and again little wind. The "homes" along the ICW are extremely varied.                                                  There are many canals along the route providing                                                       access to the water without directly being on the ICW.                                                  So many condos with private docks.                 ...

 An early start meant calm waters and watching the sunrise.  It also meant I was able to enjoy sitting in the "dolphin seat" on the bow before the sun became scorching hot. Lots of wildlife.                                             Best tiny home ever! And then the Lovebugs arrived!  Hundreds of flying insects mating and landing on everything and everything in the cockpit.   We were in the middle of nowhere surrounded by water.  What is happening? Thankfully they were not biting bugs but pesky all the same.   We arrived in Melbourne by noon and anchored just outside Squid Lips Restaurant.  We were able to enjoy the breeze briefly before the afternoon storms blew in.                                     ...