N26 50 29 W80 03 30, Palm Beach, FL

Since our last post we have put many miles under our keel. We left St. Augustine on November 16 and made our way to Fort Matanzas. They used this to guard the entrance to the inlet in the early days. We found one of the soldiers still on duty, he was glad for the company.

From there we went to New Smyrna Beach. On the way we saw a rocket go off from Cape Canaveral. While at New Smyrna I got to go up the mast to replace our anchor light. This is the view the gulls have of Johesa before they poop on us. Spent the next night anchored at Dragon Point (Indian Harbor Beach) and on to Vero Beach. We have been plagued by a starter problem for the last few weeks. After numerous false fixes we think we traced it down to a relay that was sticking at the most inopportune moments. Hopefully we have seen the last of this gremlin.

Vero Beach was a zoo of other cruisers trying to provision before heading to the Bahamas. All the good box wine was gone! We spent every day taking the bus into town for more stuff. Cindy can only carry so many canned goods and TP at one time. I should have gotten her a yoke before we left, put that on her Christmas list. All the cruisers got together for Thanksgiving. Each boat brought a dish to share. There were about 130 of us for the feed.

After about a week at Vero we moved on to Fort Pierce and spent the night then on to Peck Lake for a much deserved break. Peck Lake was great after we got off the sand bar while trying to anchor. It was a short walk over a sand spit to the Ocean for beach combing and dog walking. The winds were very strong for most of our stay and one power boat was aground on the beach. While walking the beach we were talking to a couple and it turns out that he was my first sailing instructor from Lake Superior about 20 years ago. It IS a small world after all. Wait, is that a Parallel flag flying on the Johesa?

Now we are holed up in North Palm Beach waiting for weather to cross over to the islands. While we were here we got visits from Bob Gagner (Cindy's brother-in law), Vickie and Mark Cary (cruisers from Lake Superior) and Bruce Payette (a good friend we met on the Erie Canal). But we are ready to get moving again. We plan to leave the Lake Worth Inlet and check into the Bahamas at Lucaya on Grand Bahama Island. Our tentative plan is to go to the Berry Island, Nassau then the Exumas. From there we will head north to the Abacos via Cat and Eluthra islands.

Additional Update: Looks like we will be able to cross to the Bahamas tomorrow evening!

That is all for now. We wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the crew of Johesa.