3/22/16            Tuesday          Serenity Island, FL  (near Melbourne, not too far from Titusville).
                     WORKING AUTO PILOT!!

Watching the full moon play hide and seek, appearing and disappearing among the scattered clouds as we face east and Serenity Island. We're anchored. Another boat, a trawler, near and a small power boat seems to be ferrying a few young people to the island. We smell wood smoke and assume a camp fire. Calm night. May have to put the screens in to discourage bugs.

Full moon is disappearing into clouds just over the tallest trees

A full day of motoring against the wind. We managed to get ourselves off the Riverside dock around 1100 this morning.  

An amazing backing and forwarding maneuver by Capt. Webster. The two men who'd come to help us were appropriately impressed. Its ordinary stuff to me. I've seen David do it a number of times. Pretty slick, though.

I can't quite get enough of the "scene" at Riverside Marina docks. There must be some old, sense memory that causes my fancy to just be tickled by this walkway and the life that is going on here - newer more transient boats, old boats that are more settled, and boats with live-aboards that probably haven't moved in a decade, more like regular houses. Could be on land except they're on water.          

It is just sooo rich with life, a life that I don't lead. There must be bugs and what do these folks do for money? And how long have they been here? Where were they before? Will they ever move back to land? We know one couple living on a 62' boat (!) is Polish. When did they arrive? What did they do for work? Did they immigrate from Poland, or US born?

Aah, now the moon is reflecting a pathway to our boat. Such beauty. Such good fortune.

Back at riverside marina, a Buddha alter w/horseshoe crab shell and sea sponges and shells.





David did most all the helms work again today. I, the Freeport Players grant proposal. I'll try to finish that tonight since Kathy Shaw told me of a "trick" to make the online system let me save and edit later. If I finish it tonight I'll have another day to figure out any mistakes or "oopses" in the transmission.

We might be able to stay awake to see the Cape Canaveral launch at 11 PM. I'd like to see it. Don't think there is time for a nap between blog, grant and launch.

Today a dolphin raced about 1' from the starboard side of the boat for a brief moment. Oh my. Oh my. I haven't written much lately about the pelicans and dolphins and herons and waves and palm trees (I'm going to miss the palm trees, especially). I've continued to enjoy them all. Watching the pelis dare-devil dive, splat, into the water is still awesome. Tonight a group of 5 flew past the boat. They looked like a roller coaster as the lead one slanted up about 6 feet off the water, followed by her colleagues, then returned to skimming the water, followed by his colleagues.  A bit later a larger flock, maybe 8, white ones which we'd not seen in southern FL, landed on the sandbar that extends from the island in front of us. They were pretty serene, too. And now the moon light reflection zigzags toward me on the gentle water rustlings.

And the autopilot works. And Amelia doesn't have fleas anymore but we'll still put flea killer/prevention drops at her shoulder blades. And we have a home here on the water and a land home to return to. And we have friends from here on the water and land friends to return to.

Feeling my heart expand.