blog?

We are on a dock at Palm Coast Marina-only because there are lousy anchorages between here and St. Augustine. That's our goal for tomorrow and to hang out on a dock there for the storms to pass. Then it is on again at our snail's pace for home. We'll be lucky if we get home before mid-June. The ride is beautiful, particularly in the early mornings and late afternoons. Above Vero Beach the ICW gets more natural and some places look like Jurassic Park! Of course there is development and some phenominal estates on the water but we like the rustic parts best.

Today we saw a HUGE manatee with a smaller one nearby.The adult was surfacing and rolling back into the water like a porpoise. We saw only part of the back and the tail and all THAT was at least 5'!!!! And the porpoises were playing around all day. About sunrise the water was like satin and there was a porpoise arching up and down in a slow rythm. It was surreally peacefull! Later, one even came along side the boat and looked at us, twice! WAY cool! I was sitting on the deck with my feet off the side and it was only about 24" from my toes! I heard there are eagles north of this. Maybe we'll see some tomorrow.

I like the ICW as something very different from the Bahamas but understand that it may not be our cup of tea very often. The weather has been absolutely gorgeous so we've had three great days of motoring - after two weeks of getting the engines fixed. We still have 'issues' but hopefully we'll not need to get them professionally taken care of until Cobbs Boatyard in Norfolk - or home.

I'm not painting until we get to St. Augustine. It is hard to do it while we're on the way right now. But there is the triptych that I started in Bimini and it is coming along beautifully. I have one part finished and the other two are in good shape. Hopefully one more part will be done in St. A. I'd like to do some sightseeing there, too.

The rum punch is kicking in. I'd better go cook dinner 'for I forget how!
:-)