Dear Friends and Family,

We are anchored just south of the Titusville bridge on the Indian River in Florida, where just four hours ago we watched the space shuttle Discovery blast into space from the deck of Liberty.
We departed the Double-Breasted Cays early on Wednesday morning, May 28, raising the anchor with sails set at 6:23 am. With moderate winds from the east we had an excellent sail about 45 miles across the Little Bahama Bank to the White Sand Ridge, making between 5.5 and 6.5 knots the entire way. At White Sand Ridge we turned on the motor in an attempt to attract some of the people-friendly Atlantic spotted dolphins that inhabit the area and are known to swim and play with people in the crystal clear water, about 25 feet deep over sugar white sand, with the nearest land over 25 miles away. These dolphins have been featured in the documentary "Twenty Years with the Dolphins," a gift to us from our friend Dave back at Marina del Sol. There was a large dive boat with lots of folks on board motoring around the same area, as well as another sailboat, and the captain of the dive boat told us that the dolphins had been seen in the area, but were not interested in swimming with his customers. After an hour of motoring around (supposedly the dolphins are attracted to boat motors, but of course as wild animals they come only when they want to, not when you want them to), no dolphins, so we turned northwest, reset the sails and made a rhumb line course for Cape Canaveral.
We immediately put out fishing lines, two poles (one with a rigged ballyhoo) and two handlines. The handlines are 125 lb. test monofilament line, rigged with rubber squid and octopus skirt baits, that we pull about two boat lengths back, tied off to cleats at the side of the cockpit. We don't expect to catch fish on the handlines, but they create action in the water that should attract fish. On the two poles we run 60 lb. test line, as we're dinner fishing, not sport fishing. About an hour into the crossing, right at the edge of the Gulf Stream, the reel with the ballyhoo bait started singing - "fish on!" The fish jumped several time before Dave reeled it in to the side of the boat - our first billfish! We had caught a 5 foot sailfish. Often these are caught for sport and released, but they are really good eating and this one would have put up about 8 good meals, so Chris got out the gaff for Dave, whose gaffing technique turned out not to be up to par.  Sailfish are
pretty narrow fish, and before Dave could get the gaff through the fish, he gave one last violent thrashing (the fish, not Dave) and bent the wire from the snap-shackle the bait leader was attached to. Away swam our fish, disappointing the fishing crew. Nancy never even got to see the guy! The anglers were assuaged, however, the next morning when we hooked a nice Spanish mackerel about 3 hours out from Cape Canaveral. We enjoyed mackerel steaks seasoned in a Tanzanian tiki masala curry seasoning (courtesy of Dave's folks from their trip to Africa last year), along with coconut rice and salad (ahh, fresh salad, it's good to be back in the USA!!!).
Our sail across the Gulf Stream was pretty good, but could have been better. At least it was dry in the boat this time! We had winds about 10 knots from south of east, and our course was north of west, about 300 degrees, so in the downwind sail we wallowed a bit back and forth in the 3 foot northeast swells. About 3 am the wind pretty much died completely, so Dave turned on the motor to head east. When the winds finally picked up in the morning, they were out of the north, on the nose, so the motor stayed on for the rest of the trip to Port Canaveral.
We made the 150 mile passage in just under 30 hours total, including our time doing circles at White Sand Ridge, with about 8 hours of motoring. Upon arrival at Port Canaveral we tied up to a fuel dock, took on diesel and water, bought more ballyhoo bait for the freezer, and walked about a mile and a half to the US Customs and Border Protection office to clear in. We were underway around 2 pm, but alas that was not early enough. From Port Canaveral we had to go through a lock, then through a barge canal and under a lift bridge to the ICW (which runs through the Indian River at this point of Florida). The lift bridge was under a curfew between 3 pm and 6 pm, and we couldn't make it before 3 pm, so we dropped a hook just past the lock to wait. About 5 pm we raised anchor and set out the jib to sail slowly through the barge canal, planning a 6 pm arrival at the lift bridge. The narrow canal was very pretty, with lots of birds and wildlife in the trees and and on the banks, including manatees, and sailing along quietly (no motor) was very peaceful. After clearing the bridge and turning north in the ICW/Indian River, we pulled off to the side and anchored for a good night's rest. Early Friday morning we sailed the last 10 miles to Titusville where we anchored for the shuttle launch. Before raising anchor we realized that a manatee was lurking right near the boat, eventually raising his head out of the water several times to check us out.
As we raised the anchor we saw a sailboat motor across our bow in the ICW, and recognized it - About Time - a Hunter 44 we had met in Green Turtle Cay in the Abacos several weeks ago. They have the same anchor we do (a Rocna), and that was what we discussed when we first met. We hailed them on the radio - they were going to Titusville too! We plan to stop by to visit with them here (they took a marina slip) before we move on to Charleston, SC next week. As we were sailing along the barge canal the day before, we saw a bright yellow boat named Rampage. On our first cruising sabbatical in 2005, we anchored next to Rampage in Key West harbor for nearly two weeks, spending time fishing and hanging out with Gordon (a French Canadian from Montreal). This year Rampage was not sporting a mast, and Gordon was not on board, but we plan to email him to catch up. Small world!

We spent Friday evening catching up with an old friend and her son.  Dorine Olive and Dave went to school together in the Azores where Dave grew up and haven't seen each other in years. Turns out that Dorine and her son Derek settled near Orlando, about an hour from Titusville.  Dorine was a great sport about the wet dinghy ride out to our boat, and after showing them around a bit, we all went to dinner at Dixie Crossroads.  It was a fun evening of catching up and we are looking forward to having them visit us again.
While at the dinghy dock, we noticed 2 manatees in the marina.  A local resident told the kids to run the hose and the manatees would come to the dock.  Sure enough, minutes after hearing the water, they were there.  Manatees love to drink fresh water, so much so that they even roll over on there backs to drink from the hose.  It was very exciting for the kids and adults alike.
This afternoon at 5:02 pm we watched the space shuttle launch. The bright flames and loud, sailboat shaking roar were impressive, and we certainly didn't expect it to go so quickly into space. It literally took off like a rocket! The launch was impressive and we are glad we got to be a part of it.
We will spend between one and four more days in Titusville before leaving to sail 285 miles offshore to Charleston, SC. We don't think we have a good weather window until Wednesday or so, but we will check in with Chris Parker, a Caribbean/Bahamas/East Coast weather guru who broadcasts his weather prognostications on the SSB (single sideband marine radio) several times a day. We are a sponsoring vessel (we sent him $290 for the privilege before leaving Double-Breasted Cays), so we can call in to speak with him and get his view of our best passage window. We've found his forecasts to be accurate and, as a cruising sailor himself, we believe we can put a moderate amount of faith in his weather predictions. We can tell him where we are and where we want to go, and he will give weather forecasts for our route if we tell him the day we want to leave, or we can ask him to recommend a day to leave based on the window we need. We plan to get on the radio with him Monday morning, and if he suggests that we have a good window to head to Charleston, we may leave within the hour after. If the forecast is not favorable, however, we will remain stuck in Florida a couple more days.
Our rough sailing plan for June is 3 days offshore to Charleston, a few days to a week there (visiting Dave's cousin Craig and wife Angie), then a couple of days offshore to Beaufort, NC. From Beaufort we plan to take the inland ICW north to Portsmouth/Norfolk VA, then offshore to New York harbor by the end of June. Of course, plans change, according to whim and weather, so we'll see what really happens and report when it does.
Until then, best regards,

Dave, Nancy, Chris & Josh
Aboard s/v Liberty, anchored in Titusville, FL,
Where the space shuttle Discovery departed the earth just a few hours ago
Space Shuttle Discovery blasts off into space
Liberty underway across the Little Bahama Bank
Bottlenose dolphin playing in our bow wake
31 inch Spanish Mackeral
caught underway
Sunset at sea
The bridge at Cape Canaveral
The beautiful Indian River,
very peaceful, full of wildlife
Manatees love to drink
fresh water from a hose
Space Shuttle Discovery is off like a rocket!
Discovery's trail of smoke
as it disappears into space