Finally - something new to report:  we left Vero Beach. We really liked it there. The last day I (Nancy) rode my bike over the bridge into town to go to hardware store way out to find some particular nuts for the motor mounts.  Fortunately Tom called me when I was about half way to tell me we didn't need them after all.  So - I got to stop at leisure at the Fresh Foods to have lunch, West Marine to pick up some line for the boat and then Publix for a bit more food - never have enough on the boat.   Takes lots of planning to have something to eat for a  few meals.  

But I felt great re my assignment:  Here I got to ride a few miles and call it my task for the day.  Back at the boat, Tom had hired and was listening to a very skilled mechanic go over the boat with him to tell him what needed doing and helping him do things that needed doing now.    He was so great!  He then wouldn't take money for the two hours of help but then did agree to come dive  under the boat next morning to scrub it's bottom and propeller and for that he did take $60.  Big deal!  He said that when we come back through if there's something that needs done, stop by and to call him with questions along the way if we have them.  We have no idea what we did to merit such help -  he very obviously knows what he's talking about.

Oh, here's the place I can talk about women's lib on the boat.  It went to hell.    Tom has been so busy solving problems and learning systems that I feel I have the easy end of the deal to keep the food coming and the dishes washed.    And  tonight, I did make a great dinner of chicken seasoned with Elmo's seafood spices, kale with  walnuts and raisins and winter squash, but then Tom did the dishes!  So we still do a little sharing that way.

Yesterday evening we finally gave ourselves permission to play a little:  We took the dinghy and went over to a park across from the beach.  We walked over to the beach and went in. The water was warm enough and we played in the waves.  See the pictures of what fun I had, (not?)

Oh boy, here we got to get going on our way, planning to make 30 miles today with no cares.  As we left the marina to join the Inter Coastal Waterway, whoever was steering cut the corner a little too sharp and we ran aground!    Luckily about a week before we had signed up with Boat US which provides free towing services as part of its package - kind of a AAA for boats.   So we called them, make and had eggs and sausage for breakfast and 50 minutes later, we were pulled out and on our way again.

As background to this part of the story, the other of us had run aground in a similar spot yesterday when we were taking the boat out to test the transmission on the engine and we managed to back and twirl so that we were not grounded.  AND, just after we ran aground this morning, another  larger sail boat ran aground just behind us.  The Boat US tow operator said they were much more stuck than we were and may be there awhile. 

We both steer this boat from time to time.  You can bet we both will be watching to see that  we stay in the channels.  Apparently that is imperative.

Anyway, here we are at an anchorage 7 miles south of Melbourne, Florida.  We motored about 27 miles today and are behind a little island off the Inter Coastal Waterway.

 

Tom is back to his fishing luck again - caught another catfish.  He says we need to change bait and maybe we'll catch something else.

Just after we anchored here, we got out the little noodles the previous owners left with the boat and swam/hang out for about an hour.  It was great to come up the open transom of the back of the boat and use the outdoor shower there to wash off.   The water was nice and warm from all the running of the engine earlier.   We finally think we may be getting into the rhythm of  things.

Tomorrow, we may get to Cocoa, 27 miles north, where we've had some things mailed to us.  P.O. won't be available 'til Monday so we will have time to get to know the town a little before.  We've heard it's quaint and friendly.

As a suggestion from my son, Jon, Nancy and I will begin using a different text color so it will be easier for you to follow who writing is a particular part of our blog. Nancy will continue to use the black and I will probably just pick a color each day that suits my fancy. So hopefully, in the future, Nancy's blog will be in black and mine will be other than black. 

We appreciate feedback from all of you regarding the format of this blog because we want to make it easy for you to follow our adventure and share our experiences.

OK, so I'm the one who ran aground today. But, in all fairness, the graph showed that I was right on the edge of the channel and I should have been OK. But, I really need to pay closer attention to the depth sounder in the future, When you have a 4'3" draft and the waters 4'3", there may be a problem. At least now, when I get hungry, I just run aground and Nancy can fix breakfast while we wait for a tow!!