On our way to Port Canaveral

Yesterday, June 6th, Renne', Ginger, and I met up with our friends, Dennis Franklin and Paul Barber, at Marathon Boat Yard for breakfast.  A short walk down Hwy 1 (Overseas Highway) to the restaraunt and enjoyed a nice breakfast at an open air table - granted it wasn't water side, but it was nice to be outside anyway.  I had to get back to the boat yard before the others to supervise the oil change and engine inspection.  At the same time, we decided to have one of the fuel tanks cleaned out.  We were glad we did that, as we had abit of difficulty with it on the way from Clearwater, before we got to Key West, and on the way out of the marina at Boca Chica.  Another $600 later we settled down for the rest of yesterday enjoying being in a new port.  Renne' got Ginger on the bus back to Boca Chica and we started getting ready for our departure.

Last night we had dinner with Dennis and Paul at our favorite Marathon restaraunt, Castaway's, and hit bed about 7pm.

We were up this morning at 0615 to be ready to pull out of the boat yard by 0730.  We were close - we were out by 0745.  Kent Brownhill and I had put 4 Gerry cans of fuel (24gal) on the deck before we left Clear Lake in February, and this morning, I added that fuel to the starboard tank for additional fuel for the trip to Port Canaveral.  I felt it would be easier adding the fuel in calm water rather than doing in 4-6 foot waves offshore.  Glad I did it.

It is 1325 right now, we still have another 4-1/2 hours to do today.  We are driving up Hawk Channel, motoring, as the wind is directly on our nose.  You know the old addage for cruising in a sailboat:  No matter which direction you choose to leave in, the wind will ALWAYS be directly off your bow!!  And that is the truth!

We are going to anchor out tonite on the back side of Rodriguez Key, adjacent to Key Largo, then leave at sunrise tomorrow.  We are retired, and just don't see a reason to be in a real hurry.  We hope to be in Port Canaveral on Friday.  We will be in the Gulf Stream tomorrow afternoon giving us a 2 knot advantage and 4 knot advantage over the current today. 

So come out to the key tonite and enjoy sundowners with us on the hook!

JonNe'