It’s Saturday morning and the sun is OUT AND BRIGHT. Actually, today is the first day that we have had brilliant sunshine since boarding in St Mary’s a week ago. It’s been a bit chilly but now it should be a lot warmer going forward. However, I guess I have written about that enough already.
As I write this we are anchored off of New Smyrna about 25 miles north of Cape Canaveral. Our plan is to spend the day ashore and then to continue to make our way south on Sunday, to Cocoa where we will likely spend a few days. There is a knitting store in Cocoa that Brenda enjoys so I expect that she will spend some time there knitting with the other ladies for an afternoon.
Yesterday was a chilly run and I left the heater running down below so that Brenda could be comfortable as I steered down the ICW. It was mostly overcast but as the day wore on we were treated to SUN and somewhat warmer temperatures. We had a good bit of wind so I motor-sailed much of the way.
I enjoyed watching some of my favorite birds, the pelicans, fly by. It’s amazing to me that something as ungainly as these birds are can fly so gracefully. This guy was nonplussed by our passing. Somehow they look like they have a lot on their minds and perhaps that includes disdain for passing boats, like Pandora. To me, if they could talk, they’d have a deep and authoritative voice. 
As we passed through endless marshes I was particularly struck by this beautiful Victorian home on the banks. 
I also spied this fort north of Ponce. Pretty impressive but it looked a bit out of place near the modern homes in the background. 
Shortly before we arrived in New Smyrna we passed Ponce Inlet. The lighthouse looked very pretty in the evening light. 
The best of all is that it was warm enough for us to sit out in the cockpit and enjoy the sunset while enjoying an “adult beverage”. As we sat there, admiring the view, flock after flock of birds flew by in the fading light on their way “home”.
Today is truly a beautiful day and we are looking forward to being able to soon “retire” our heater for the season.
Did I say that it’s getting warmer brother Bill? It is. Soon, I’ll be sweating. Sure hope so.
We are on the move heading south bit by bit. Now that we aren’t shivering I expect that our pace will slow to a crawl.