January 22 - ICW to Melbourne

Saturday, January 22.

After 2 nites at the marina, the worst of the rain has passed, and we've got a couple of days before the next cold front is due. However, the offshore conditions are still blustery (small craft advisory, 6-7ft seas, 25-30 knots of wind), so we decided to stay on the ICW, heading towards Melbourne. The skies are clear but we miss the warm weather! Lows in the 30s are predicted for tonite.

Manatees

The marina was a manatee heaven ... we counted over 6 of them just hanging around our end of the dock.

We around 11 am, and after a windy and wavy day on the ICW, we decided to stop after 5 hours in Eau Gallie FL (about 3 miles short of Melbourne) where there was space to hide from the wind behind the causeway, along with 3 other boats.  It wsas a blustery night but our anchor does the job. Also a cold night on the boat (without a heater!) so we got under the down comforter early, looking foward to an early start tomorrow.

More bridges.

The ICW in Florida is much wider and deeper than up north.


Straight route south.  Autopilot is doing most of the driving!

Still watching for channel markers ... red on left

Next stop -- Vero Beach. A place everyone raves about; a place with mooring balls for $14/nite (no anchoring allowed); a place we are looking forward to hangiing out and provisioning for a few days.