April 14 ,2011 Headed out of Ft. Lauderdale under ideal conditions. Turned east to the gulf stream & traveled north, six miles out to sea. By doing that we got a kick from the gulf stream of 3 extra knots (yahoo!) Flew by Boca Raton, West Palm Beach & Jupiter Inlet. We passed St. Lucie Inlet (where we would have come out from Lake Okeechobee if we had gone that route) The rolling seas put us to sleep (almost) Not many boats out as the waves were pretty choppy (rough) We felt like true cruisers toughing it out on the "outside". It was so rough we lost the prime on both the A/C & freezer pumps. Headed in by Hutchinson Island & found a little anchorage in Ft. Pierce, just off the ICW. Another long day but it feels like we're getting closer to home (New England) every day.

April15,2011 Awoken @ 4:30 am to a heavy rainstorm. Gardner discovered that our anchor was dragging. So out came the foul weather gear. Caryl had to go out & undo the anchor bridal & the guys manuevered the boat into a better position (we thought). Our Capt., Fred, was scheduled to depart today. So, after breakfast, Gardner took him for a quick dinghy ride to a local marina where the Hertz people picked him up with a rental car. Now we are on our own!! We decided to just rest today & not do any traveling. After a little housekeeping activity, we took a dinghy ride around the local canals. Everyone has a boat at the dock behind their house. Some of the boats are bigger than the house. We ended up moving the boat (one more time) because the anchor still wasn't holding. We hope the third time is a charm. Looking forward to a peaceful, quiet night so we can get an early start tomorrow.