Palmetto Moon docked at Marina Bay Resort on the New River in Ft. Lauderdale on Sunday, January 21. The restaurant, Rendezvous Bar & Grill was excellent and we dined there often during our four week stay. Our friends, Larry and Sue on Sue Sea Q 4, came up for several weeks and enjoyed the warm weather with us. Our friends, Marthe and Albert, came over from their sailboat and joined us for dinner one evening. Steve spent many lunches with us including driving us to stores so we could do our errands and shopping. We had wonderful dinners out with both Steve and Betty at P F Chang's and Chima, the Brazilian steakhouse. We begged them to take us back as we had such an incredible meal there last January! 

The pool at Marina Bay -- I spent many hours lounging here reading books and magazines, and I had to pinch myself to remember that it was winter! Our friends, Bob and Wendy, two of the Canajoharie 11, came to visit and spent the night in the forward berth. They introduced us to Angelo's restaurant, home of excellent Italian food, and we saved the menu as they deliver to the boats docked in this marina. Bob and Wendy had told us about this great place when we were stranded in the Erie Canal together. We met Mike and Pat of Irish Ayes who are doing the Great Loop. Since Mike had his truck there, he took Jim out for a "guys shopping excursion" to all the boat-stuff stores. They left at 9 AM and had no curfew!

Sunday, February 11, we drove to Greer, SC -- Alex was great in the 11 hour car trip. I visited with friends, Jim visited with family, we both got our taxes done, and Alex had eye surgery to correct his deformed eyelids. Winter was in the Upstate with temps at night in the low 20s and days in the 40s; we couldn't wait to get back to Palmetto Moon.

We had our farewell lunch with Steve at the Seminole Hard Rock Cafe & Casino, and I wished we had more time there. I put $5 in a nickel slot machine and won $60! I cashed out and we left. On Thursday, February 22 we left Marina Bay and headed south through the beautiful turquoise waters with Miami in the background.

We had four dolphins cruising along with us in Biscayne Bay. This one showed me his body before I asked.

We tried to leave Black Point Marina on Saturday, February 24 at 6:45 AM after staying two nights. The morale of this story is to remember that we DO NOT travel on weekends. The tide was going out, lots of little boats were going in and out of the channel, and the wind was blowing.......suddenly a loud clunk and the starboard engine shut down. We had hit the coral at the edge of the channel and were aground. TowBoat US brought us back to the same slip at 8 AM. The diver came on Sunday and removed both props; Jim took the props for repair on Monday, February 26.

We promoted Alex to Captain as he loves sitting at the lower helm station. Our concern is that he usually sits facing the wrong direction. On Tuesday, February 27, our friends, Jim and Sue on Water Dancer, drove up from Marathon. They got tired of waiting for us to appear in the slip next to them. They were also two of the Canajoharie 11.

It wasn't easy to get this manatee to pose -- actually it was eating the growth off the bottom of a boat in the slip behind us.

The props are due back on Friday, March 2, and the diver is scheduled to come on Saturday to put them back on, and we are scheduled to leave here on Monday at high tide heading down to Marathon.