After such a beautiful night, we woke up to a gorgeous day. Good thing Ran and Nichole drove up to Orlando last night. I-95 was closed to traffic in both lanes this morning because of the smoke from that wildfire that was burning last night. They would have been stuck in traffic for hours. At first light, we finished our morning routines and pulled away from the dock at 8 AM. The temps were going to be warmer today, so it’s best to travel early while it’s “cooler”. An unusual looking boat pulled in front of us last night and left early this morning.
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We slowly motored out of the Canaveral Barge Canal into the ICW and were on our way.
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At Cocoa, there was bridge construction, so we had to proceed with caution.
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At one point we noticed 6 jet skiers up ahead of us. They were moving very quickly and playing in the waves. It wasn’t long before they noticed us and came over to jump our wake.
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It’s always fun to watch them from the boat. They were serious about having fun, but safely… wearing helmets.
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I can’t remember if we saw this sunken boat on our way north last week, but I am always amazed that boats are just abandoned like that.
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We got into a more protected area where there were some spoil islands blocking the wind. This group of people got on the backside of one of the islands and out of the wind to enjoy their time on the beach there.
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It was breezy with a light chop in the ICW, but boats were on the move today. We spent most of our time in the Indian River at cruising speed. It was more of a wide open area, so the waters were more choppy. The ride was still comfortable, nonetheless. The air temperature was perfect with no humidity. The winds were out of the east, so the boat got a good coating of salt on the port side, especially when we passed the inlets where the waves were washing in. As we neared Vero Beach, I could see the beautiful homes on the waterway. One is more beautiful than the next.
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This beautiful osprey was in her nest tending to her young ones.
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Right overhead, a mosquito control plane was flying above us. It was interesting to watch him maneuver the plane over the mangroves to spray. He came down so very close to the water.
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We stopped for fuel at Vero Beach at 1:00 and decided to take a slip in the marina for the night. Bob was tired of fighting the wind with all the open water we passed through today. I don’t know what was wrong with the boaters today, but they were either driving down the middle of the marked channel or driving on the wrong side of the “road”. Wake up, people!! We settled in and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. Bob washed the boat to get the salt off. Auggie and I took a walk and made a call to Mom and Dad. Randy called to say he was in the airport, waiting to board the plane for his trip home. Bob cooked brats for dinner and we watched some TV.
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We would make plans for tomorrow once we checked on the weather report and wind forecast.