Visitors!

Last weekend, Bob and Jodi visited from Grand Rapids.  It was great to have friends on board!  We scurried around and cleaned Virginia Dare inside and out, in anticipation of our guests :)

V berth ready for guests

Our aft cabin

Ready for friends!

Sunshine and blue sky await Bob and Jodi's arrival

Took a walk on the beach Saturday evening before dinner.  The water was ~70*F but the breeze was cool.

They're smiling because they left Michigan and 20*F :)

We're smiling because we have guests :)

Beach flowers

Jodi had never been sailing, so we headed out for a little sail on Sunday!

This gorgeous sailboat was heading out to sea as well

157' of beautiful.  We suspect it was a short shakedown cruise.  They tried all sails and headed back to Palm Beach.

We saw a loggerhead turtle, but I didn't have my camera handy.  

Bob at the helm

Unfortunately, this focused on the wheel, not the Cooper boys

I believe it's safe to say that Jodi enjoyed the day

I never tire of this view

Heading back to our marina in the ICW (A1A bridge at Sherman Point)

Debbie Lou is still wrapped in plastic

Cool old boat heading south

OK, I think I'm finished catching up on blogging.  More soon!

Fort Pierce to Lake Worth (Palm Beach inlet)

Well, in case you missed it on Facebook, David installed our new wifi device and we are back in action with reliable, speedy wifi.  So, I am catching up on blogs......  TheWirie.com specializes in wifi for boats & RVs and even offers one that will grab G service if you're not in range of wifi.

Our new device (Lisa's doing the happy dance :)

We left Fort Pierce on Thursday (1-22-15) and mostly motored south via the ocean to the Lake Worth inlet which serves Palm Beach and the surrounding communities (and also links to the ICW).  It would have been a great day to sail, but the wind was not blowing in a helpful direction.  That's not to say that we didn't try, but we didn't want to arrive after dark, so we motored.

Leaving Fort Pierce, there was a 4 knot current coming into the channel from the ocean to the channel.

The fishing must be pretty good at the Fort Pierce inlet!

Washing machine action leaving the channel

We are a TINY blip on the wide open sea, but we have seen FOUR balloons in the water since we entered Florida.  Please, for the love of wildlife--not to mention our planet--do not release balloons into the sky!

Lovely day to sail, if we didn't have a southern destination

Just like at home, we have an ever-evolving To Do list

Approaching the Palm Beach region

Lake Worth inlet

Our marina is three miles north on the ICW.  After following this barge under the bridge, it stopped in mid-channel and we had to pass with non-stop oncoming fishing boat traffic.  Some sport fishermen do slow down and lessen their wake, many do not.

And the winner is..........

........BLEACH!

We had been told by various people that there are several ways to wash the mildew off your curtains: white vinegar, OxyClean, or bleach.  While I would have loved for plain old vinegar to be the hands-down winner, it was not.  Good old-fashioned bleach did the trick.  Mind you, I tried all three in scalding hot water (our hot tap water registers 195*F[!!] with no way to temper it!).

The winner and 2015 champion is BLEACH!

Our mildew wasn't really too bad.  This is a 2" x 2" cluster of the evil stuff.....pretty mild compared to what we've read about!

I only broke one clip.  These buggers are not that easy to maneuver right next to a wall!

Curtains drying in the sunshine -- chilly (upper 50s), but dry and breezy today.  They dried in less than two hours.

Look, Mom, no mildew!  :)

Port Canaveral to Fort Pierce

Yesterday's trip was uneventful.  Just 64 miles of motoring.....no useful wind to push us south.  Here are a few shots from dawn to dusk. 

Leaving Port Canaveral at dawn

Dredging in the channel

Pelicans.....you can count on them to be around all day, every day

This is a blurry/bad photo, but it is an entire TREE, roots and all!

Shrimp boat and the birds that travel with it

We reached our 1,00th nautical mile on this trip yesterday!

Sunset in Fort Pierce

Goodnight moon

Saint Augustine to Port Canaveral

Another 24-hour ocean trip under our belts.  We crashed through the 6' to 8' waves -- and the occasional 10'(!) -- in the Saint Augustine channel on Saturday morning.  Virginia Dare made mincemeat of the surf.  I wish I could have held the camera steady enough to capture the huge sprays we created!

Throughout the night, we saw several shrimp boats.  They are UNBELIEVABLY bright.......doused in incredibly blinding halogens!  We imagine that their night vision is non-existent, but we sure can see them even if they can't see us.  And for those of you who are wondering, my seasickness lasted only two hours......a big improvement over the previous trip!

Closer to Port Canaveral around 4:00 am, we saw other lights on the horizon.....cruise ships....four of them, to be exact.  So David adjusted our course and speed and let them enter the channel ahead of us.  We tiptoed in behind the fourth and found Ocean Club Marina and their super friendly staff without a hitch.  Our slip happens to be right next to another Hallberg-Rassy and a very friendly and interesting couple.  Drinks on board Lirica last night.  Drinks on board Virginia Dare this evening, with a "night cap" at 7:43 pm to watch the Atlas 5 rocket launch -- an exciting event that David can tick off his bucket list :)

We're off to Fort Pierce tomorrow morning, heading back to the Atlantic as long as the forecast holds.

Before we left Saint Augustine, we checked out the channel we'd be using the following morning

Sailboat and shrimp boat passing in the channel

Smashed through the waves at the channel and hoisted the sails

So peaceful when you turn off the engines!

Got jet trails?

Military cargo plane flew right over us after taking off

Sunset behind the high-rise buildings on the Florida coast

Brief drizzle at sunset -- then a completely star-filled night

Sunrise and the crescent moon

Just before the sun rose

One of the many channel markers

Busy Port Canaveral

Did I mention cruise ships??

Cocoa Beach Pier - we walked from the pier up the beach to Port Canaveral and back to Virginia Dare (6-7 miles).  It was a gorgeous day and we were wearing shorts and short sleeves!

Ever present cruise ships

Pretty little birds with very long beaks

I spy with my little eye...

Don't have palm trees in Michigan :)

Sea oats

Heading back to the marina

Pretty flowers at the beach

The mouse left the "house" (channel) while we were having lunch