Yesterday we continued through Central Florida, traveling nine hours to Melbourne. Our friend Matt Tove moved here a year ago, and we made plans to meet for dinner. We hadn’t seen him in five years, so stopping here was a definite!

This stretch of the Intracoastal is unexciting. Not much to look at, and a lot of simple but tedious navigating. We did have a few visitors travel with us for awhile though, breaking up the monotony.

We anchored for the night in a cove just off of the Intracoastal, where Matt, and his fiancee Julie live. Scott took the dingy to pick them up, and brought them to see the boat. After a complete tour, we all went back to shore, where they hosted us for dinner. We had a great meal, and spent time catching up until late in the evening. A big thanks to you both, for a wonderful time!

This morning, Scott took me on a dingy ride, to search for manatees. I believe that these animals are made up, so that slow speeds can be enforced along the southern waterways. In the five months that we spent going south in 2008-2009, I saw one manatee, next to a restaurant. I believe it was a robotic marketing scheme. Julie and Matt claimed that there were many, many manatees just up the river from their condominium, so Scott was determined to have me see them. We saw some swirls in the water, which is supposed to be their tail fin moving, but I saw nothing surface. I remain a non-believer.

After our search for mythical creatures, we traveled seven hours, and anchored just off of the Fort Pierce inlet. The water color changed to a pretty blue just as we crossed under the Fort Pierce bridge. Howard has decided that he now likes spending travel days in the guest stateroom

Tomorrow, we will officially enter South Florida! Here are a few photos from the last two days.

“Shells Sink, Dreams Float. Life’s Good On Our Boat!”