Bob and Linda in Cocoa, Fl

We are passing some real pleasure.   It has been great fun having Bob and Linda on board for these last few days.  They have seen a good portion of the Florida East Coast from Stuart up to New Smyrna Beach.   There has been much to catch up on between their busy lives in Colorado and our life in Austin and on Rock Chalk.  But this has been a great opportunity for them to experience our "lifestyle" on the boat.   It is not fancy but as you can see from the photos, it is fun.

Great conversations

Bob is enjoying the 80 degree temperatures while Judy drives the boat.

As we crossed into Mosquito Lagoon we followed a mother Manatee and her baby as they cruised the Haulover Canal.   We followed them for quite a distance as they were taking their morning swim.

Manatee Mom and Baby

Cruising

We rushed all day to get to New Smyrna Beach in order to watch an Atlas V rocket launch from Cape Canerval at 5:20 pm on Tuesday.   This is the same place and bridge that we climbed to watch the third from the last Space Shuttle launch two years ago.   But alas, an Atlas V seemed like a fircracker compared to the Space Shuttle.  It was pretty tiny.   But we still caught it on camera.   Look close.

Atlas V

All in all it has been a great week with my cousin and cousin in law on board.   Hopefully it is not the last time they can join us, and as a message to all my other cousins and family, do not be strangers.  We will probably not have Rock Chalk forever, so if you can, come have some fun.  Thanks to Bob and Linda for making such a great week for Shelley and I.

The St. John River

OK, here is a trivia question.  What is the longest river that flows in Florida?   OK, OK, here is another.  What is the longest river in North America that flows north?    My grandson, Max, just studied all about the Nile in Africa.   But no, this one is in North America, and yes you guessed it..... The St. John river in Florida.   It flows over 300 miles from near Stuart to Jacksonville, and runs parallel just 30 miles from the Atlantic coastline.  The good folks of Florida tell me that this is the REAL Florida.   It is not the beaches of Destin, or South Florida, but here in the marshes and estuaries of the St. John.

Morning Mist

Our friendly neighbor

Live Oak, Cypress, Spanish Moss, and Lily Pads line the river for hundreds of miles.












I have been surprised at how shy these big guys are.   It is hard to find one who will sit on his log long enough for me to take his picture.... Smile








Our good friends from Wichita, Roger and Carla Smith, joined us this week.   It was one of those deals, that we called them on Monday, and they drove to Jacksonville and were on the boat by Thursday.  Fun.   It is a perfect place to cruise on Rock Chalk as they joined us at the Ortega River Landing, and we are cruising south until we cannot go further on the St. John.   Then we will turn back north and cruise back to Ortega Landing.   Roger and Carla are avid bird watchers, which is a talent that Shelley and I definitely lack.   They are birds out there in this marshland....right, and lots of them?   You bet.   There are Coots, Sandhill Cranes, Scissor-tail Kites, Bald Eagles, High Build Grebes, Ospreys,  Tri-colored Heron, Snowy Egrets, Cormorants, Anhingas, Great Blue Herons,  a whole colony of Wood Storks,  and many many more.  Wow!!

Our binoculars have had a work out.   The river is lined with the lily pads, and fallen trunks of trees.   If you keep a sharp eye, you see the gators sunning themselves on a log.  The locals like to water ski or wake board here.   Ummm... What is wrong with this picture?   At least on Table Rock Lake in Missouri, there were not critters that might bite my arm off if I fell off my ski.

Six Mile Creek and a local flying in.    Carla, Roger, and Shelley

We will dock at Sanford tomorrow, which if you can believe it, is a northeast suburb of Orlando.  On our way to Sanford, we will stop at the Blue Spring River which is supposed to be full of manatees.  They love the warm spring water that flows out of the ground there and into the St. John.  That is as far south as we can go, so we will turn around and head back north and stop at places that we missed on the way down.   Some cruisers spend 3-4 months on the St. John.   We will do it in 8 days.   Are you surprised?

I have not mentioned it, but it has been cold in Florida for the past 10 days.  It has been in the 30's at night, and several days with highs in the 50's.   Brrr.   Today was better, but  at least there is no snow here.  We will fight off all the alligators, and make our way back to the Atlantic.   More later,   Marc

My cousin's Robert and Linda's Great Adventure

Captain Bob as we now call him, and Admiral Linda are on station in Rock Chalk.    Bob and Linda joined us a day ago in Stuart for the boating segment of their travels across the US.  They parked their van at the boatyard where we had Rock Chalk, and in minutes we were headed out to see what we could discover.

It is beautiful now on the eastern Florida coastline.   Winds have turned to the south and temperatures are in the high 70's and low 80's.  The wind is blowing a bit so it is a bit chilly, but I do not think I will get much sympathy from the family in Kansas or Colorado where they still have snow in the yard.

If you look at the map you can find Stuart Florida on the east coast of Florida just north of Palm Beach.  We came out of the St. Lucie River and turned left to Canada.  I love those moments on the boat when you get to a place that starts you on a journey.   It started in Stuart where you turn left and go 1800 miles to Montreal.   This will be fun.  Bob and Linda will be with us for the first few days of our next Great Adventure.

We all got to see the porpoise play in our wake yesterday.   Whenever we see a pod swimming nearby,  I can bring the boat up to a plane that makes a big 4 ft. wake.  The porpoise love to surf, jump, and otherwise delight humans.   They performed beautifully for us, as a whole pod of six, including a little baby guy, jumped, surfed, dove, and shoot back and forth from one side of the stern to the other.   This group of 6 followed us for several miles, and Bob was able to take a video of them, and Linda took 100 photos.   Since I was running the boat I did not get a photo, so you will have to go to their blog to see the cool pics.

We are now in Cocoa Florida and preparing to watch a launch from Cape Canaveral of an Atlas 5 rocket tomorrow afternoon.  We are going to anchor near Titusville which is just 5 miles from the launch pad.    We are hoping for clear weather.

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all and how bout those Jayhawks!!!    Big 12 Champs for the 9th year in a row and hoping for a #1 seed in the NCAA tourney later today.  Fun time of the year.   More later,   Marc