July 18, 2012—Rockhouse Anchorage, Ponce de Leon Inlet to Melbourne, Eau Gallie Bridge anchorage

Again we decided to stay on the ICW with unfavorable winds and storms forecast. The temperatures have been wonderfully mild in the upper 80s, and with 5-10 mph winds have kept the heat at bay for pleasant cruising.  It is nice to be back where the dolphins play, swimming beside us the last two days.  Although we have seen many “Slow, No Wake, Manatee Area” signs on both Florida coasts, we encountered our first one today off our starboard.  We saw him only briefly before he dove down and we were glad to avoid hitting this slow-moving sea cow with our spinning prop. 

Encountering storms again today, both while motoring and at anchor, made us realize how fortunate we are to have survived the intensity of the duracho on July 1^st.  One of the aps we have on our phone is a radar showing intensity of the storm with colors and time-lapse indicating the speed at which they are traveling.  During the duracho we were in Atlantic City, and the radar showed a mass of bright red and yellow over much of the coastal states when it first began and an hour and fifteen minutes later it finally dissipated.  With the 70 mph winds it was like being in a hurricane for an hour. Now, like today, when there’s a little blip of red or yellow, but mostly blue and green colors, we know that it is a brief thunderstorm of maybe 10-15 minutes duration.  Every storm we encounter is compared to that worst storm of our lives, pale in comparison, and easily manageable.  Even with the three brief storms which passed through today we still take the same precautions when motoring to have on our life jackets with safety harnesses, and everything secured.  Setting the anchor is extremely important, proven again this evening when a brief wind/thunderstorm came through and the boat next to us wound up 100 yards behind where they had originally anchored.  Although expensive, a good anchor and chain have proven on just this one trip to give a peace of mind well worth the investment.

Melbourne has a wonderful city pier including a dinghy dock, with their library and a small park right on the waterfront.   After the storm passed we took Fritz to shore, enjoyed a walk and the live band playing at the restaurant next to the pier.  Running the generator for a while takes the stuffiness/stickiness out of the cabin and made sleeping without the hatches open comfortable.  Our eighty degree rides may be almost over, with temperatures predicted to go into the nineties over the next few days, but it may be a blessing when we head back out offshore to lessen the chance of thunderstorms.  If we have no weather delays, Capatin says we could almost be home by the time the Olympics begin.  To which Fritz and I say, “Yeah!”