Shifter issues all but solved thanks to the help from Gary, Dan, and Walt!  At least now when you put it in gear, you KNOW it is going into gear. Just a little "tweaking" to make it a good fit. 
     Three glorious days with Dan and Stephanie. We had a great time and hope to see them again on the way back through. 
     We left Cocoa Beach Sunday morning and anchored near Titusville for the night. Monday, we made our way to Daytona Beach. On the way, we picked up a stowaway. An Osprey landed on top of the mast and rode there for about a mile or more. He/she only left when we had to turn and the sails began to flap. While it was riding there we passed under a bascule (draw) bridge and the bridge tender at Haulover Canal Bridge took some pictures. We get goosebumps just thinking about it - incredible experience!
     We are in Daytona for a few days and hope to sort out "issues" with the windlass - the motor that helps raise and lower the anchors. Yep Darrell has been manually placing and pulling them for a few days - bummer!  I might even go shopping for myself a birthday present while we are here. 
     We are looking forward to seeing Al and Martha while we are here. Had planned to leave the boat and travel inland to spend a few days with them but don't feel comfortable leaving the boat unattended. Most of the planned projects were taken care of and we got to go out with Al & Martha - good times!
    We left and traveled to St. Augustine. In a mooring at the municipal marina here with a short dinghy ride to a dock and TONS to see and do here. 
     We have narrowed down the "must see" list and hope to start on the list tomorrow. Only problem is that many of the tours don't allow dogs - that means Roxy has to stay on the boat. We have seen pirate ships, Eco tours, parasail boats, and a power boat just "waked" us. Museums will be the highlight of what we see and do. Hopefully, it won't rain on us again as much as it did yesterday - we were all SOAKED!
     Next stop is Jacksonville, where we have some things to look into. There is an electronic shop there we hope to have look at our autopilot. Hasn't worked in over 2 years so we want to check it out. 

     Boy, Alibi's crew made up for all those days of not moving!  After four days, we traveled 217 miles up the coast of Florida. 
     We anchored Wednesday night near Melbourne and had dinner with Gary and Mary from "Packet Inn" that we met in the Bahamas. It was a great reunion!!  Lots to catch up on and we didn't stop talking all night. They are great friends!!  They even helped us by being a taxi for parts!!
     We stopped overnight at Elliott Key, Lake Worth, ft. Pierce, and Eau Gallie. We are going to put Alibi at dock for a few days and visit with our friends Dan and Stephanie. That is always a welcome visit!
     When we get back on the move again, we hope to get to Daytona and park the boat again while we visit with more friends - Al and Martha of "Journey". We are going to hook up and sail with them later this summer up farther north. The way MJ writes makes this blog seem boring. Oh well, it's our story!
     We are having shifter "issues" so this seems like a great place to stop and see about it. We were passing under a draw bridge on Wed. morning and the boat didn't want to go into forward gear. Made our hearts skip a beat or two to be under an open bridge, current pushing you backwards, wind trying to push you sideways and the *%#> boat wouldn't go into gear!!!  Darrell had to go below and manually put the transmission lever in gear. Whew a close call!!!
     Stay tuned for more .........

Wow, it's hard to believe we have been back for more than a month!!  The anchor that we put down on the day we arrived back in the USA almost didn't want to come up. Thanks to Darrell, we were able to unwrap it and leave that spot.  
After that, Alibi spent a couple of weeks at the dock. 
We took a road trip to Amarillo for Jessica's college graduation. On the way there, we stopped at the Island Packet plant in Largo, FL. We got to meet Bob Johnson, the designer of our great boat!  Even got his autograph!!  We had hoped to get a tour of the IP plant but they were closed. 
While we were in TX, we learned that our first grandchild will be a boy.  We even got to be there for the sonogram!!  Our next sewing project is to custom make the crib set (bumper pads, quilt, valance, skirt, etc.) for him. We are so excited!!
We are dreaming about the next trip on Alibi. We are going to leave soon for a tour of the eastern US coast. Probably as far as Chesapeake Bay this time. We want to see the coast of Maine but time, weather, and the birth of our grandson will keep us from getting that far north. 

May 21, 2011. 12:45 pm
Whew, Alibi is back on the hook!!  A HUGE thank you goes to Jack and Sue for looking after her while we were gone!  She is itching to go sailing and we are too. She looked mighty nice in that dock space!!