Melbourne, Fl

Unfortunately we are not in Melbourne, Australia tonight.  That would be a very interesting change from what is going on now.  Right now we are having a few things updated on Nati and come next week we will start to show them off.

We have been able to see Jean & Tom A for a few dinners and they are just perking along fine.  I just missed seeing the shuttle fly over for the last time.  I heard it but didn't get outside fast enough........guess it wasn't meant to be.  It would have been a cool picture though.

I know we are a little boring right now but stand by.........I promise we'll try to make it up.

Animal Kingdom

We have finally pulled into Melbourne for a couple of weeks.  Anne is going north and I'm doing water maker and solar panels.  With any luck we will pull out of here when she returns and resume our trip north.

In the meantime this basin is full of life.......osprey, terns, egrets, ibis, anhinga's and of course, Clyde!

Looking good Clyde!

Yesterday we think we had a good seat to see a herd of manatees roam around the basin.  Spring is here and we all know what that means.  On top of that the small kids wanted their share of mom also.  They ended up right next to Nati for a while.

There is a tail for you

Mom, where the heck are you?

We will be posting the work we are doing on Nati as we get going.  We may be a little boring for a couple of weeks but we will be moving sooner than later......

North on the ICW

From Stuart we slowly went up the ICW, our only goal is to find a nice anchorage for the evening.  From Hole in the Wall we tried a new location near the Wabassco Bridge but it was too shallow for even Nati.  So....north we went and decided to drop the hook behind a spoils island.  It gave us good enough holding and a great view of all the boats going through the channel.  Dolphins really liked to feed in the area so we them around the boat most of the time.  Once, while cleaning the waterline they surfaced less 20 feet from the boat.  The water wasn't clear and it was a little intimidating seeing those guys so close and not being able to see them!

Sunrise near Palm Bay

Yesterday was supposed to be a quiet day but then a front was projected to come through overnight from the NW and we didn't have protection from the anticipated winds.  Up came the anchor and we moved further north to Cape Malabar.  On the way we passed by Grand Island.  Pretty neat to see a number of small (Florida small anyway) homes and camps on it.  Kind of "old school" where the mega-mansions don't exist.

Grant Island

another picture of Grant Island

  The chart showed a nice point that would give us shelter from the NW.....well it may have but most of the cape is gone, replaced by a shallow sand bar.  The holding is good in sand and guess what????  The weather guesser didn't get it right and we ended up with a beautiful night......no storm, no wind.  Just nice!  

We will take that any day of the week!!!

Oh no, we are going north!

We had a fine week at Stuart and now it is time to keep moving.  We don't have to be in Melbourne for a few days so we'll take it slow but move we must.  ICW here we come.....

It is too bad that more marinas are not like Sunset Bay.  The facilities are first class and the walk into town is nice.  It is also a great place to meet up with people as the motels are less than a mile away and reasonable with the rates.    We will make it back there.......

Sunset Bay Marina

Roosevelt Bridge heading east

 Out the St Lucie River and then we have to take a left turn.  The entrance to the ocean is being dredged and soon we should have a good inlet to use in the future.  The dredgers are huge looking at you head towards the ICW.

And of course what would it be without a sunset with "Dinh-go" in the forefront!

Sunset over "Hole in the Wall" Island

New Nets!

The Chief & Millie showed up in Stuart and they brought our new nets with them.  It sure is nice to walk forward and not worry about slipping on the nets.  Plus, the new Kevlar nets are lighter and you can see right through them.

Out with the old

Don't fall in Dad!

Nice!

Captain Kev.....check this out!

Heading north!

Miami is behind us now and we are going north towards Melbourne over the next month.  Our first stop was Lake Boca and we had a nice quiet night.  We know now NOT to show up there on a weekend as all the crazies are there.  From there we went to Lake Worth where is blew hard over the night but all was fine.  Going around Peanut Island on a weekend is quite a show.  It is amazing to see all the hundreds of boats anchored in the shallows or beached.  The Marine Patrol has their hands full!

It is cool to see all the beautiful, ugly and just plain weird boats down here.  Every time you turn around there is just one more strange vessel.  Check them out.........

A classic

Mr Spaceman heading to the Bahamas!

Don't stand up!