Day 28 - Nov 23, 2013
Well, we finally did it. Up at 0530, coffee, yogurt and breakfast bar and we were leaving the mooring field at 0645 hrs. Today’s planned destination is Melbourne where we usually anchor.

The sky is only partly cloudy and we can see the sun peeking through the clouds on the horizon. Looking like a good day. We manage to get in some motor sailing with the jib.

Around noon, we were approaching our destination when we checked the weather forecast. NWS has now issued a small craft advisory and a gale wind warning. The coming cold front looks like it might pack a wallop. Anchoring in Melbourne was now out of the picture. We continued on as lots of daylight was left.

I selected a couple of potential marinas for the evening and continued southward. We motor sailed on and off as direction of travel and wind direction allowed. As we approached the location of the last marina on my list, we made the decision to shoot for Vero Beach, another 30 miles away.

It was a squeaker, but we manage to arrive at the Loggerhead Marina in Vero Beach about 20 minutes before sundown. Only one drawback, we timed our arrival with the swarming of the no-see-ums. Ouch!

We did a quick securing of the boat and equipment and then jumped down into the cabin to escape the bugs. We now had a new problem…80+ degree heat in the boat. Time to break out the electric fans.

Location: Vero Beach, FL. MM 949
Distance Traveled: 71 miles
Avg speed: 6.8 mph
Max speed: 7.7 mph

Day 27 - Nov 22, 2013
How is it we get up at 0530 and still can’t get underway before 0730. Another slow starting overcast day. We leave the marina and head south toward Ponce Inlet. Friday sure brings out the boating traffic. River is a busy with lots of fishing and power boats.

Tide coming in Ponce inlet keeps out speed down until we pass the inlet and then we get a boost. Past Ponce, we enter the Mosquito Lagoon. It’s a long, pretty boring stretch, but we do get to do a little motor sailing. We reach the haul over canal and enter the Indian River and motor sail some more. Winds are up a little and we move at a pretty good clip crossing the river. When we turn south we eventually lose the wind and it’s back to motoring.

I am beat, so when we approach Titusville, I contact the marina and secure us a mooring ball for the evening. We pick up the ball, secure the boat and call it a cruising day at 1500 hrs. I prepared the boat for a quick start in the morning while Donna prepared the all important happy hour accoutrements.
Later after dinner, Donna watched some TV and yours truly dosed off.

Location Titusville, FL
Distance Traveled: 48 miles
Avg speed: 6.3 mph
Max speed: 8.2 mph.