HEADING NORTH

Oh my, here it is Saturday, April 25 and it is time to head north and start for home. One of the things I had said to Dick was I missed the lovely color of the water from the west coast. Even with several inlets along the way , the water is that dark tea color. Well, surprise, surprise! We hit Fort Pierce Inlet and the water lightened to that bluish-green. One great thing about the east coast is there is an abundance of dolphins that follow in our wake and we just love to watch them swim and play.
Our first stop was Vero Beach in which we pulled up a mooring. We had arrived shortly after noon. Usually at Vero your rafted with another boat. This time we enjoyed our own mooring as there were several empty mooring balls. We had a very relaxing evening on the boat and it was definitely much needed since we haven't stopped since leaving Punta Gorda.

On April ,26 our next stop was Dragon Point at the south point of Merritt Island. It was a glorious sunny day. Just north of Melbourne, Fl , we came across a large group of sailing vessels that were circling and clearly anticipating a race. Amidst the boats there was a lone Heritage East 36 of all things acting as committee boat. We later learned the Heritage East was newly purchased and her name was Banyan. The captain of Banyan had called us on the radio and we exchanged emails. That is how this trip has been all along. We have met and made friends with many cruisers and boaters.

Early the next morning we left for Titusville City Marina. This marina has a great view of the NASA shuttle building and we could see a few of the launch pads. One gantry had the shuttle attached and we found out it will be launched on May 11. Unfortunately we will be further north and out of the area to enjoy. Although the skies were blue and the temperatures warm, the East winds were kicking up and creating some waves on our beam. This is when Dick really gets a workout. The Indian River is quite wide in this area and the winds kick up a chop. The Summer Wind doesn't like winds on her beam or aft and that is exactly where they were coming from. Dick had all he could do to keep her steady. Upon entering the marina in Titusville we had gusts of approximately 25-30 knots. We surfed in and it was nice and calm inside. A little tricky getting into the slip but we managed without any nicks. As soon as we got ourselves comfortable and checked in I (Elle) said lets take a walk, so off we went and found a great bakery where we indulged in a wonderful pumpernickel/rye bread just baked. YUMMMMM.

To be continued.