Still in Nassau

Hi gang,

We are sitting in a cafe using their internet. We left the marina yesterday and anchored out. Some days we operate like a well oiled machine. Other days we do not. When we started looking for a place to drop anchor we were like people who had never met and spoke different languages. We spent a long time up and down the channel. We would drop and anchor and then decide it was wrong. At one point we were in front of Lisa Marie Presley's house and then realized it was several miles to take Moose ashore. We finally found a place not far from where the cruise ships dock. We had lots of wind last night and Moose and I slept in the cockpit to be sure everything was ok. Our new Rocna anchor held without issue.

We will leave to head into the Exumas tomorrow or Wednesday. We are waiting to check the weather. The winds are supposed to be good but we are concerned about clouds. On the route there are coral heads just below the surface. They are easily seen in the sunlight but may be a problem if it's cloudy. We'll check weather in the morning and then decide.

Hope your life is good.
Love from Spunky and crew.

Nassau

Here we are in Nassau. We arrived Friday Jan. 13 after traveling overnight from our anchorage near Belle Is. in Miami off South Beach. We raised anchor at 4 a.m. and arrived Nassau around 9 a.m. I believe. We requested permission to enter the harbor from Nassau Harbor Control and headed past the cruise ship docks to our slip at Nassau Harbor Club marina. The dock master here is know as St. Peter the Turtle Man of Nassau. He attempts to save the endangered sea turtles in the area.

I am still on info overload and will probably continue to be throughout this trip as I am trying to learn all the navigation tasks as well as the cruising tasks and then the info about our locations and what to see and do. It is a bit overwhelming.

Yesterday we walked to the market under the bridge(which leads across to Paradise Is. and the Atlantis Resort) where there are rows of "shacks" selling the famous Conch salad and fritters as well as typical American fare. There are also vegetable vendors selling the most common veggies such as green peppers, onions, tomatoes, hot peppers, limes all the required ingredients for conch salad. There are also tables where men gather to play dominos and shacks where vendors cut up conch to sell. The area of town that I have seen so far is pretty dirty and trash strewn with tons of potholes on the streets, but the people are very friendly and colorful. We had lunch at "Doc Sands" shack which we chose since it was crowded with locals and the conch salad was excellent. We also had Kalik beer which is a local beer that was really pretty good. Then we walked down to another marina to have dinner with friends Bert and Maria Elena on "Not so Interim". They invited us to a wonderful lamb dinner and a lot of good conversation and wine. Maria Elena used to own a restaurant in Venezuela

Today we will move Spunky to an anchorage as it is expensive to stay here too long. The winds are high so it will be a challenge to get out of here and find a spot in the harbor to anchor. We are waiting for slack tide to try and avoid the current. We are hoping the wind dies down soon so we can leave and head for Allan's Cay our first stop. Allan's Cay is made up of 3 cays, Allan's, Leaf and SW Allan's. It is here on Leaf Cay where the rock iguanas live and come out to greet the cruisers as they land on the beaches.

John got us out of the marina with no problems. The current did push us around but he has a good feel for Spunky now and has become an expert at backing out of slips.

We then circled and circled looking for a place to anchor. The first choice anchorage was full and we are always concerned about being too close to someone. It sits between the cruise ship dock and the bridge where large commercial vessels unload. We couldn't be in the way of either and the one open spot had an obstruction showing on the chart. We dropped anchor once and changed our minds. We finally gave up on the area West of the bridge and moved East to an area near what is rumored to be Lisa Marie Presley's home. Once there we dropped the anchor again and found ourselves to be very close to the channel and lots of boat traffic so we raised our anchor once again and decided to go back to the western site as it is the only place close to a dinghy landing for Moose. We continued to circle and finally settled on a spot after much discussion and indecision. Deciding where to drop our anchor in a crowded anchorage is very stressful and creates lots of tension. John and I both seem to see different things that concern us. We did finally get situated and sat back to let the dust settle so to speak.

Spunky is in Nassau

Family and Friends,
Life is good.

We left Miami yesterday morning and sailed overnight to Nassau. It was a long 30 hour trip that was very uneventful. There was little wind and we motored the whole way. We are looking at weather to decide when to sail on to the Exumas. Nassau as several of you know is a tax haven. The extremes of the way people live is amazing. We are in a marina between to huge power yachts.

The water is incredible. You can see the bottom 20-30 down. If I had spent my time here I would have been able to have recovered the hundreds of tools and things I have dropped overboard over the years.

We have suspended our phones and will rely on email communication. I have enjoyed receiving forwarded articles, jokes and photos from several of you. I would ask that you take me off of those lists until we return back to the states in May. I do enjoy receiving the emails you have sent and encourage you to keep us posted on your life.

Spunky
Latitude:25.25409
Longitude:-77.69852
GPS location Date/Time:01/13/2012 03:10:59 PST

Message:This is the default SPOT Check-in/OK message. Please update.

Click the link below to see where I am located. http://fms.ws/6qibf/25.25409N/77.69852W

If the above link does not work, try this link:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=25.25409,-77.69852&ll=25.25409,-77.69852&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

My best to you all and I will send more soon.

John
Sailing on Spunky

Nassau

We made it to Nassau!! We raised our anchor at 4 a.m. on Thursday and cleared the Port of Miami at 5 a.m. We had planned on moving Spunky Wednesday afternoon to Fisher Island to be close to the Atlantic on Thursday morning but as plans go the package we thought would arrive Wednesday morning or early afternoon didn't get there until 6 p.m. By the time John picked it up at Fed Ex it was dark and we decided to get up at 3:30 a.m. and leave from Belle Is. which we did. The weather was fine. Not enough wind to sail and when it blew it was from the wrong direction for sailing so we motored. It was pretty rolly with the swells and Moose did not like it at all but he finally settled down in his bed and went to sleep. Our autopilot acted up and kept shutting off and for a short time we debated what to do as steering on the ocean is difficult and doing it all night long would be untenable but John was able to figure out the problem and we were on our way. Just short of Bimini the water turned a beautiful turquoise blue and we rounded North Rock at 2 p.m. which is the mark just north of North Bimini. Then we added all the waypoints into our GPS and settled in for a long night. Since John usually sleeps a few hours after retiring and then is up for most of the night, I took the first shift from 8 to midnight and then John took over and I slept. I awoke for a shift at 3 a.m. but he said he was fine so I didn't take over again until 5 a.m. We arrived in Nassau and were done with customs and immigration by 10:30 a.m. Moose pretty much slept the entire trip and when John took him forward just outside of Nassau he peed on the foredeck!!! Finally!!!

It looks like the weather is going to deteriorate tomorrow and Sunday with high winds and waves so we will probably stay in Nassau until Monday. Not our desire but we are learning to be cautious and prudent. As we came into the harbor this morning there was a huge Disney cruise ship at the dock. Interestingly it is flying the Bahamian flag as its country of registration instead of the US.

Just as we passed into Bahamian waters we both got an email from Verizon notifying us that if we used our phones for calls or data it would be very expensive so we immediately turned them off. After arriving here we went into town and purchased a Bahamian phone and some minutes. That is also expensive so I am giving you all our new number for EMERGENCIES ONLY. It is cheaper to text us or if we get a call from the states it will be billed at Bahamian rates we believe and not the even higher rates charged if we call out. We will communicate infrequently by email when we can get to an internet cafe or get wifi coverage in an anchorage so until we return to the states communication will be sparse.

We are excited to begin this part of our adventure and will write when we can. Feel free to write to us and we will enjoy hearing from you as usual. Hope you all have a great winter and spring we will be thinking of you. It is 83 degrees here today.

Miami Beach

We are in Miami Beach at anchor in a beautiful location. After leaving Stuart on Tuesday morning we motored down the ICW to Lake Worth. It was a great day and we arrived early so we tried to find an alternative anchorage from the recommended one but every spot was taken and the anchorage behind Peanut Island where we thought we would have good shelter from the winds and a place to walk Moose was very small and full so we motored back to North Lake Worth and dropped the hook. It was the first time we used our new anchor and it preformed like a champ. The predicted t-storms arrived and although others in the anchorage dragged we held tight. The landing area for the dinghy where we went in to walk Moose and others use to get to shopping is known for theft. A friend we met in Stuart had their outboard stolen a few years back and all of the guides caution not to leave your dinghy unattended even if locked. We decided to only stay the night and left early the following morning. We had hoped to jump outside of the ICW into the Atlantic and head to Miami but the weather was iffy so we stayed inside and motored through Palm Beach and onto Ft. Lauderdale. This area of the ICW is called the canyon as the sides of the canal are all concrete and lined with homes some quite opulent. North of Del Ray Beach the temp alarm went off and smoke started pouring out of the hatchway. John shouted to turn off the engine as he raced below to see what was up. We had broken an engine belt and blown out a hose. We dropped anchor in the middle of the channel and John spent over an hour below making repairs. There are 20 bridges to get through in this 50 mile stretch and most are restricted to certain opening times. Some are only a couple of miles apart and you go through one at quarter to or after the hour and the next on the hour or half. We don't quite go fast enough to make the quick openings and spent a lot of time waiting for the 2nd opening. That combined with the time lost on the repairs put us into Ft. Lauderdale too late to find an anchorage and we were forced to stop the night at a marina. This morning we left and made it through the final two bridges to Port Everglades Inlet. John noticed that our oil leak that he thought was fixed when he tightened every bolt in sight is worse than ever perhaps due to the belt episode and the heat that generated. We decided however to push on to Miami so we motored out into the Atlantic passing a few huge cruise ships at dock and hoisted the sails and took off south. The wind died shortly and we motored on to Government Cut a big shipping channel into Miami. We passed by a huge cruise ship at dock awaiting and made our way slowly up the cut being bounced around and side to side constantly by all the big and small power boats that don't know the meaning of "No Wake"

New Year's Eve was great. We had fireworks all around us in the anchorage. There were some over Miami and some over South Beach. It was very exciting. We have found the Publix, Ace Hardware and Post Office. We can walk to all of those as well as into South Beach and the upscale shops there. The street with the shops is closed off for pedestrian traffic only and it is line with outdoor cafes and filled with people speaking spanish. We love the mix of cultures here and the excitement of the city There is a lovely little park where we take Moose for his twice daily walks. It has a fenced in play area for the children and is right on the water.

We tried to use the Alfa antenna that we had purchased but after loading the software and wiping out our 'easy tether' and gmail, we took the Mac and antenna into an Apple store for help. As usual the store was full to the brim with people shopping for Mac products. Pretty incredible. We were able to get our gmail back but could not get the antenna to work so we sent the antenna back and will try to order another brand that can work with the Mac. The parts for the oil leak are not going to arrive until Jan. 9th so we will remain here in Miami until we can get those and meet with the mechanic. Once they arrive we will have to go into an expensive marina to have the work done. The good news is I will do laundry and we will take real showers. Looks like it will be the middle of January before we leave. Our next adventure will be to take the bus to the West Marine store to purchase some more spares in case they are needed in the Bahamas. From what we are told it is very hard and expensive to get parts there. We are anchored very close to South Beach and the West Marine stores are all in Miami so we will try the bus. Here in Miami there are no special rates for seniors as we have found in other locations unless you have a special card which requires a bus trip in order. to apply for the card. More trouble than it is worth.

We had a cold snap for a couple of days. One night the temps dropped to the high 30's but today it is back to the 70's with a nice breeze. Just lovely. I shall send this now as our wifi coverage is very spotty and I may not get an opportunity to send an update for a while. At least until we spend the night at the marina.

Hope everyone is well and enjoying life.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas Everyone. Today is beautiful here. The sun is out and there is a nice breeze. John, Moose and I walked into town this morning along the Riverwalk and had breakfast and bloody's at Mulligan's. Stuart is such a nice little town. I keep thinking that I could settle here for a while and be quite content. We went to dinner a few nights back with a group from the marina. They had cars and it was a lot of fun. The town is quite spread out with lots of the usual stores, services etc. but without a car we just stay in the old town area which is great. There is a Publix, ABC liquor and Ace Hardware within a bike ride and the marina has bikes we can check out for the ride. We are planning to take a ride this afternoon and then I will do laundry as it won't be busy on Christmas day. Tomorrow is a brunch put on by the son of a cruiser who is a chef from Atlanta visiting for the holiday. That should be a nice opportunity to bid farewell to everyone we have met here and then we will ready Spunky for our departure on Tuesday morning.

I have to say that walking into town on this beautiful morning I felt so very grateful that I am alive and able to enjoy this experience. As I begin to look back on 2011, it has been quite a year for us. So many challenging days not the least of which was my unexpected surgery. I recognize how fortunate I was to have it all come on so quickly. I really had very little time, only hours, to worry (which, by the way, I am very good at) about upcoming surgery. We are looking forward to 2012 which I know will be an outstanding year if we all survive the end of the Mayan calendar.

Thinking good thoughts of all our friends and family. Much love and cheer,

Elyse, John and Moose

Stuart, FL

We are still in Stuart, FL. After a phone conversation with Foley Marine, we decided to stay through the weekend in hopes they might have an approved mechanic here in Stuart that can take care of the engine while we are here. It is a major fix as the entire front of the engine must be removed to reach the timing case cover and replace the gasket if that is what is actually leaking. While they are in agreement to take responsibility(we think), we want to take advantage as it will be a very expensive repair.

Yesterday was overcast and in the low 70's and a bit on the cool side for me. We worked on projects on Spunky. Some were successful and some were not. John tried to install a navigation program (MAC ENC) on our Mac but the program would not run. He was able to set up our Alfa antenna which will hopefully allow us to access wifi when we are close to a transmitting tower. It is beautiful today. No clouds but fairly windy and once again in the low 70's. Today my plan is to use teak oil on the salon teak and John is going to install copper strips to ground our SSB radio. The Tacktick wind speed instrument which we installed last Monday did not work consistently so John called Ray Marine which had recently purchased Tacktick. After several calls over 3 days,they finally determined that we had been sold an old unit without updated software so we had to send it back to them to be reprogramed. Had we just exchanged it for another, one of us would have had to go up the mast where the transducer is mounted to synchronize the new unit. This way, with the reprogram, the unit should work without a climb up the 62 ft. above the water. Now we only have to figure out where they can send it when the program is complete.

Friday John took one of the marina bikes and rode to the hardware store to find screws in order to mount a chart shelf he had made for me from scraps of teak. It works wonderfully mounted under the navigation table in an out of the way place. Many of our charts are very large and hard to store but this appears to be a great solution for us. The trip to the store was down A1A which is a very busy traffic street and he said it was an exciting ride. All the jobs on a boat seem to take much longer then jobs at home because we have to get into the dinghy and then take a long walk to accomplish many of the tasks not just jump into the car for a ride to Lowes.

We found today the name of a mechanic that can look at Spunky's engine so tomorrow we will take her back over to Manatee Pocket for the day. The mechanic won't work at this marina as they are not accommodating and has recommended another marina where we have permission to tie up for several hours in their lift area. In order to hold our mooring ball we will leave our dinghy tied to the ball when we leave. We will leave early tomorrow morning as it will take a few hours to get back over to Manatee Pocket. This scheduling means we will remain here through Christmas as we will have to have parts delivered after we have determined for sure where the leak is originating. We are hoping the work can be done the week following Christmas. We are having our mail sent here and our wind instrument returned here which will make things a little less complicated.

Yesterday afternoon MAC ENC called back and walked John through installing our nav. software and that is up and running. Now we just have to figure out how it works and what it can do for us. I started putting teak oil on the wood in the salon and it really makes a difference. Tonight we will attend the Tuesday night "meet and great" and see if anyone shows up. The mooring field is full but many of the boats are sitting empty as many folks have left their boats and flown out for the holidays.

Not much too exciting going on but it sure is a nice place to spend the time waiting for repairs and equipment. It looks like Dec 24-26 will be a great weather window but we will not be able to take advantage of it. Another will come around when we are ready.

I am sure you are all frantically completing shopping, decorating and traveling for the holidays.

We wish you all a wonderful time and will be thinking of you.

Being Lazy

Friends and Family,

Life is good. We are currently located in Stuart, FL. We came in here originally at Manatee Pocket to pick up our new genoa (the sail on the front of the boat) Mack sails as always did a great job. We then moved over to Sunset Bay were we are on a mooring ball. It's like being at anchor except they are able to fit a lot more boats together. This has to be one of the best places we have been. The people here are friendly and helpful. We have run into some old friends and made some new ones.

The trip down the Intracoastal Waterway has been pretty uneventful. We stood at the doc in Titusville and watched a family of Manatee feed at our feet. We have had many porpoises join us along the way to be sure we are ok. Vero Beach is another great place to stop. Many cruisers go no further. Many call it Velcro Beach. There is free bus service to take you anywhere you would like to go.

We will probably leave here next week. We plan to motor down to Ft Lauderdale and then we will go off shore to Miami. At that point we will wait in Miami for a "weather window". In order to have a quiet crossing of the Gulf Stream we need to be sure there will not be any wind from the north. North winds make for big waves and uncomfortable seas. Much of the last month the winds have been steady from the northeast. Lots of boats have been waiting. If the weather isn't good we may head on down to the Florida Keys to wait. The nice thing is we are not in a hurry. We have most of the food we will need for the next 5 months. Our front berth is loaded with cans and packages. Our freezer and the refrigerator are filled to the brim. We are told wine if very expensive so we may pick up a little more.

We bought a Spot GPS. When we push the button it sends out our location. Click on it below and it will connect to Google Maps. We can also send out a request for help. It will serve as a backup for our EPIRB which when activated notifies the Coast Guard we are in trouble and where we are located.

Click to see where we are located:
http://fms.ws/6gAWS/27.19985N/80.26123W

If the above link does not work, try this link:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=27.19985,-80.26123&ll=27.19985,-80.26123&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

Today I am using the Internet threw our new extended Alfa antennae. It enables us to pick up wifi from locations on shore. We are settling in to a routine. Moose is doing much better. Last night there was a "meet and greet" at the marina. We sat and visited with a group of people and Moose took turns sitting in people's laps. He would still prefer to be on shore. The night before we went to a Christmas sing along that was organized by a Jewish couple. We included the dreidle song.

Our new engine has a little oil leak. We are talking to Foley engines who remanufactured it. We are hoping they will step up and honor the warranty. I don't have high hopes. We can probably live with it through the winter but it would be nice to get it resolved before we leave.

We miss our family and friends at the holidays. We have talked and if we do this again next year we will probably park the boat and fly off to visit someone, so kids, be warned.

Elyse's son Michael has set up a blog for us. Elyse, as many of you know, does a much better job than I of telling about our adventure. You can read what she says at http://spunkysvoyage.blogspot.com/. You may have to cut and paste it into your browser. I hope that all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and Christmas will give you time with those you love. Thanks for being a part of our adventure. Time to take Moose ashore.

Sailing on Spunky,
John

Spot Tracking

We left Mariner's Cay Marina on Wednesday afternoon after John returned our rental car. Monday we had our genoa delivered and our rigging checked and a mobile groomer came and shaved Moose. We had spent Tuesday day at Walmart, West Marine, Office Depot, Petco and Publix shopping like we would never see a store again. I know after this year's trip I will have a much better feel for what can be obtained in the Bahamas but for now we are working in the dark except for what others have advised. There was a Hair Cuttery next to Publix so I got my hair cut by a fellow named Dallas who was born in the Virgin Islands and studied "under Vidal Sasson". We also went to customs at the St. Lucie County International Airport which makes Panama City International Airport look huge. We submitted ourselves along with passports and boat documentation for approval and we passed and now have our "Local Boater's Option Card" which allows us to return to the US without actually going into a customs office for clearing in. It was a long day and we were exhausted when we returned to Spunky. We spent the next hour in the dark transporting bags and bags of provisions to Spunky. Wed. morning we grouped and repackaged purchases and stored them in the v-birth and forward head hoping that we can find something when we want to use it.

We arrived early afternoon at Sunset Bay Marina where we hooked the last remaining mooring ball available for our size boat. We are close to the marina office and dinghy dock which is a wonderful location as it is not so far to take Moose in. It is really pretty here. We are moored with about 70 other boats of all size and design. The marina is about 2 blocks from the old downtown which is a charming village with restaurants, shops and a theater that has a wonderful lineup up of performers for the winter months. I can see why people stay here year round. John stopped in at a barbershop and got a short cut so we are now all shorn. We did pick up some clippers so we can try to keep ourselves and Moose respectable and comfortable in the Bahamas. That will be an interesting experience. A couple we met at Mariner's cut each others hair. Her's looked really good. He said he just puts the 5/8 in. blade on the clippers and shaves like I remember from the film they showed when Elvis went into the Army and they cut off his hair. As I said it should be interesting.

This afternoon there was Ladies Lunch and I went along. It was a very eclectic group of women who live on their boats. All were in long term slips at the marina where they now live as opposed to moving from place to place as we are. My favorite was Amy, who is 70 years old and lives with her significant other Marty who is 82, on a 49 ft. trawler. What a kick she is. Tonight we will attend "Sing-a-long for the holidays".

I am sending the address for our Spot tracking so you can follow us on our journey. The Spot will take a GPS reading and put it on a google map so if you go to the site you can track us on our journey. I think. You will probably have to cut and paste it in order to open it. It also allows us to call for assistance if we are in trouble. Sort of a backup for the Epirb, which we have as well, which calls for help and sends out our position after we have been separated from our radio. As I understand it we will loose phone and computer transmission for a while when crossing the gulf stream and not be able to call on a cell phone until we purchase a Bahamian phone so we will not be able to check in and let everyone know we are ok and have arrived. The Spot, however should continue to track our progress. We will soon see how well this all works.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=27.15765,-80.19528&ll=27.15765,-80.19528&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

We are thinking of you all and I will try to keep the updates coming.
Elyse

Holiday Spirit?

We left St. Mary's Boatyard this morning on a rising tide. We had planned on anchoring after about 45 miles, but the anchorage is unknown to us and only recommended by one cruising guide with all sorts of disclaimers about debri on the bottom and swinging space limitations. With the weather forecast to be 20 mph winds today and possible thunderstorms tonight with higher gusts we decided to stop in a known anchorage only about 7 miles from where we started that will put us within striking distance of St. Augustine if we leave in the dark on Tuesday morning and arrive at dusk on Tuesday evening. So we are here in Fernandina Beach, FL. We went into town and walked around. It is a charming town on Amelia Island. There are lots of little shops with interesting items and a couple of book nooks which I love. There are little parks with benches along the street which Moose loves. We are anchored out in a large anchorage with about 15 other boats and dinghy into shore for restrooms/showers and trash disposal. Moose is napping, John is cleaning stainless and I am on the internet.

Tomorrow we will go into town when it is dry and not too rough hopefully. We have some documents to put in the mail. Right now the winds are picking up and it is getting somewhat wavy with rain showers. We will try to get Moose into shore shortly so we can remain on Spunky through the evening and keep watch on the position of the boats around us.

We have had 3 uneventful days down the ICW. Things are getting easier. We made St. Augustine from Fernandina in a day. We were able to catch the current and went through the Bridge of Lions at 4:30 the last opening before rush hour when the bridge does not open for an hour. We took a mooring ball ($20.00 per night) and stayed 2 nights. St. Augustine is a favorite place to stay. It is charming and the city is all lit up for the holidays.

Leaving St. Augustine, we anchored out in a creek just north of New Smyrna Beach named Rockhouse Creek. It was quite windy through the night and since we are not confident of our anchor, John spent the night watching from the cockpit to make sure we stayed put as there were several other boats around. We have received our final documentation papers after the name change and now we have to find a customs office in order to get our "Local Boaters Card" to make our reentry to the USA much easier.

I have been working on our provision list for the Bahamas. We think we will try to stop in Vero Beach to do this big shopping trip and then stop in Stuart for our sail and then head down to Miami to await a weather window to cross the Gulf Stream. I am not sure how long all this will take but we will probably be on our way by the end of December.

Although the mornings in St. Augustine were downright cold, the days are warming up nicely as we travel south. Spunky likes the warm weather as well and her engine starts on the first try in the warmer temps. The stratoglass in the cockpit cover rolls up easily as the temps warm up as well and of course I do much better in the warmer days.

Here we aren Titusville, FL. on a mooring ball. They have covered almost the entire free anchorage area in mooring balls. On our way up north, in the spring, this was an open anchorage with no charge to anchor. Now it is $15.00 per night and we dinghy in to use restrooms and showers and laundry. There is a great dog park in the city park next to the marina which is very nice for Moose. He has had two playtimes since we have arrived. We will stay two nights and head for Melbourne tomorrow to get some work done on engine. This afternoon we watched a group of 5 manatees feed on grass floating on the water in the harbor. They are such wonderful creatures-the couch potatoes of the marine world.

Two days in Eau Gallie and we have our new anchor. Now we will have to see if it works. It doesn't quite return to its home spot on the front of the boat easily so John will have to figure that out. The weather has been lovely. We have spotted many porpoises and manatees as well as a variety of birds. I love watching the pelicans dive into the water for fish. They look so graceful until they hit the surface. Then it looks like a car hitting a brick wall.

We arrived at Vero Beach on Wednesday and rafted up with another boat on a mooring ball. Vero Beach, or velcro beach as many cruisers call it since it is so hard to leave, is a wonderful stop. The marina is welcoming to cruisers. The facilities are clean and well cared for. There is a free bus(donations accepted) that stops at the marina and goes all through town. The cruisers use it to shop at Publix, Target, Walmart, West Marine and many other shops. We went into town on two occasions and filled our back packs with groceries, wine/alcohol, and boat supplies. We realize that we will have to rent a car to do our final provision in Stuart as there is just too much to carry on our backs. There was a cocktail get together on Thursday night where we were able to meet people going south. We haven't yet met anyone doing the route we are planning. Most were going to the Abacos or not leaving until well after Christmas.

Our next stop is Stuart where we arrived this afternoon after traveling the day in wind and rain. We are in a marina here and the guys from Mack sails will arrive tomorrow a.m. with our new genoa. They will also do a check of our rigging and install our wind speed transducer. We are renting a car and will drive to the St. Lucie County International Airport to meet with customs and get our "Local Boaters Option" number. Then we will shop for our 5 months of meals and other gear and hopefully Moose and I will find a spot to get our hair cut. We both are way overdue.

Hope this finds you all well and getting into the Christmas spirit. It doesn't yet seem like Christmas to me since we are not in the stores that over emphasize the holiday and the weather certainly doesn't feel like wintertime. Please stay in touch and let us know what is happening in your lives.