A Cold Departure and a Warm Wecome

As we prepared to leave for Key West, two events occured. Our Buddy Boat Sand Castle, discovered engine problems which would delay their departure for 5 days. We waited one day to see if the mechanic could do a quick repair, but, fearing to lose our weather window, we left on a Saturday, after the mechanic said he was temporarily stumped and would return Monday to work on the boat. The second event was a change in the weather. A cold front followed Hurricaine Sandy through the area. Rick and Cookie bundled up in quilted vest and  foul weather gear, and ate hot soup along the way to keep warm.

Our first night at sea, we were treated to something we've been missing on our time off the boat......sunsets at sea. Nothing is more spectacular.

And, even nicer, upon our daylight return to warm Florida waters, a team of dolphins, entertained us with a magnificent welcome. Wish I had the camera out earlier to catch the enter performance.

Our first 48 hours took us down to Fort Pierce, bumpy ride by engine through unpredicted winds in our face. But all worth it for the warm welcome provided by the dolphins.