Let's Go Surfin' Now (by Jim)

So we're just sitting around looking out the windows and notice this head bobbing along across the marina. The head comes out from behind a row of boats and we realize it is a guy standing on a surfboard and paddling across the marina. He paddles right out the marina entrance and starts down and across the river (St Lucie River). At this point the river is about 3/4 mile wide. But he is going cross ways. To give you an idea of how far away this guy is, the camera is zoomed to 48X!! We figure he went at least 1.5 miles. Luckily for him, the water was very calm and no speedboats came zooming by. He paddles to a dock, pulls himself up and disappears. Now that is a real minimalist boater!!

Blue Heron and Chicks (by Paula)

We took a dinghy ride down the St. Lucie River and happened to see this mama Great Blue Heron on her nest with two babies. We've probably seen hundreds of adults but this was the first time we've seen chicks. A real treat for a couple of bird lovers!

Striped Sea Horse (by Paula)

This adorable little seahorse was the biggest ham at the Florida Oceanographic Coastal Center in Jensen Beach. In addition to this video we also took several still shots of him and I swear he kept "posing" for the camera. Wish we had room on the boat for an aquarium!

Aside from the fact that he's too cute for words, we had to post this video for our dear friend, Mary, who is an amazingly creative and talented artist living on a sailboat in Sanford, FL, and a bit of a seahorse lover. If someone were to ask me to describe Mary's art in five words or less, I would simple say that "She creates beauty and whimsy." You can see some of her work at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6592108 at http://www.allthingsseahorse.blogspot.com/

Feeding Time (by Jim)

We spent several hours at the Florida Oceanographic Coastal Center on Hutchinson Island. This is a short video clip of a huge salt water pool that has many different species of fish. In this video you can see Nurse Sharks, Atlantic Stingrays, Tarpon, Sheepsheads, and Crevalle Jacks and many others.

Cow Nose Stingray (by Jim)

This is a short video of Cow Nose Stingrays. This is in a small pool where visitors are allowed to feed them. They have had the barbs from their tails removed. You take a small bait fish, hold it in your hand and put your hand in the water. The Stingrays swim by and take the food out of your hand. Of course Paula was all over that!!

What a Difference a Day Makes! (by Paula)

This is part of the Sunset Bay Marina mooring field and is what we get to look at each day from our port (left) saloon (living room) window. It's a wonderfully relaxing view and it seems like you can see forever.

This is what it looked like yesterday, when it rained - really hard - most of the day.

Thank goodness the sun is back today!

Sunset Bay Marina, Stuart, FL (by Paula)

It's easy to see how this marina got it's name. This is the evening view off our bow.

Sunset Bay Marina is only about a year old and is a great spot for cruisers and liveaboards. As much as we loved Fort Pierce, there was no sense of community among the boaters, as most of the boats were just being stored and those with people on them were usually only there for a night or two. Sunset Bay has an awesome boating community. we have already met lots of great people from all over. There's a boaters' "happy hour" every Tuesday and Thursday. Bring your drinks and a snack to share, hang out and gab with other boaters for a couple of hours. There's also a huge grill right there that anyone can use anytime. People also get together for coffee up there each morning - haven't done that yet since we've usually hit our caffeine limit an hour before that. The marina also has a beautiful boaters' lounge with a large book exchange (leave one, take one).

One really fun thing that happened was last Sunday after we arrived. We went to dinner at the restaurant here at the marina. We got seated, started looking around, and in less than a minute saw Bob & Mary McKee, who had been our next door dock neighbors in Titusville last fall! That's one of the great things about this lifestyle - you make friends and while you have to say goodbye alot, you run into people again in different places and it's like having a family reunion!

Rock & Roll (by Jim)

Here in Stuart we ended up with a side tie to the outside breakwater for the marina (Sunset Bay Marina). We like the fact that we could tie starboard side to, that's handy because we take the dink off the back on the port side. We can also reach the forward waste tank with the pump out hose without moving the boat. The down side is we are continually getting waked by passing boats. The sportfish are the worse but a lot of other boats do the same thing.

Jumping Dolphin (by Jim)

This dolphin started following us yesterday on the trip from Ft. Pierce to Stuart. He kept jumping and jumping like this. We were so enthralled watching him that we forgot all about the camera and taking a video until he was ready to move on, so this is really short. We'll try to do better next time!!!

Bike Nite in Fort Pierce

Every Thursday night one of the downtown streets is closed off and 200 - 300 motorcycles pull in and park for a street party. Every Thursday!! We've been walking down each week to eat dinner at JoJo's and then wander around looking at the bikes and listening to live music. Lots of beautiful bikes and interesting people to see.

And isn't this dog just too cool!?

Fort Pierce has been a huge surprise to us. There's been some type of free entertainment at least 3 out of 7 days a week. What's really cool is that the marina pretty much anchors one end of whatever is going on. We virtually never have to walk more than a couple of blocks. This week we had Bike Night on Thursday, Friday Fest (music, arts and crafts)on Friday (last Friday was a classic car show with live music). This morning was the Farmers Market and Art and Crafts. This afternoon is the Hooked on Music Festival with over 20 different bands on four stages over the next 8 hours.

We'll be leaving here tomorrow and will really miss this place. Don't know how we'll find ways to entertain ourselves now!!