Movin' Along, No Time to Smell the Roses

Wow, are we bookin'. We made 62 miles today, a new record for us, and in only 9 hours, which is also a new record, for us. Averaging about 7 miles per hour, normally we average only 6 mph.

Yesterday we left Ponce De Leon Inlet. It was an early morning, but we weren't in a huge rush, we were low on fuel, and there was a bridge that needed to open at New Smyrna Beach. We traveled along uneventfully until 2:00 in the afternoon, when we stopped in Titusville to fuel up and pump out the poo tank. All was going well, but we needed to make the bridge at Addison Pt for its last daily opening at 3:30. We had the engine at max throttle, the sails all up, tweaking and trimming, watching for little movements, nerves on the edge. And yep, we missed the bridge by 2 minutes. If the operator had of lifted the bridge at 3:30, we'd have sailed right through by the time it was up, but no, the bugger was not going to let us through, no matter what. To add insult to injury, the next bridge opening wasn't for 2 hours, instead of the usual 1 1/2 rush hour shut down, due to construction and restricted operating hours. Oh goodie.

So, at 5:30 we finally got through the bridge, but since the sun was down, there was no where to go but drop the hook out of the channel. Unfortunately, we didn't go far enough to the left behind the breakwater, and ended up with a nasty chop throughout the night. Live and learn. It makes for a rough night when you are on an automated rocking horse. At least we didn't have to stay there until the bridge opened this morning at 08:00, we could leave any time we wanted. Sun up was at 07:00, sounds good to me.

Today was awesome. We had a destination in mind, but the winds were so strong that we had already reached it shortly after lunch. Not to mention that the waves were so big because of the wind that there was no way we could have anchored there. So we pushed on to a little spot called Pine Island, just a few short miles north of Vero Beach. Our friend Fred, whom we had spoke to on the phone earlier was here with his friends on Barbara. They invited us for dinner, so Serena whipped up a sweet potato casserole, while I got the engine oil changed. Fred played taxi, and we had a great evening, good food, and good friends, who could ask for more.

Tomorrow we are going to push on again, and then hopefully get into Fort Worth on Saturday. After that there really is no rush. The weather man has decided that we probably won't get over to the Bahamas before Xmas, but he may yet change his mind. Besides that, how bad could Xmas in Miami be.....