Titusville, Florida - Days 1-3

New port, great friends, medical emergency, happy ending....

Saturday, March 26, 2016

We were underway at sunrise and traveled 64.8 NM up the Indian River along the ICW and are docked at Titusville Municipal Marina. We are docked next to Tom and Jane, aboard Elizabear. We first met them at the Illinois Valley Yacht Club (IVY Club) months ago in Peoria, Illinois and have unexpectedly shared other ports/anchorages with them along the waterways. We haven't seen them since we toured Tarpon Springs, Florida together along with Betsy and David, aboard Fryedaze. It's a great feeling when you find familiar Loopers at each port! We were so happy to finally spend time with Denise and Paul, who were one our first Face Book Live Aboard member connections from over a year ago. We had briefly met them in person last June up in Deale, Maryland as they were cruising south. We also met Face Book Live Aboard members Doug and Beth, aboard Winedown! Nice surprise!

Ba-bye "Velcro Beach"! We will be back!

This is the anchorage we were at years back when preparing to cruise outside of our inland lake in Texas while training with Captains Chris and Alyse. Hole in the Wall, aka, Pine Island 2 anchorage just north of Vero Beach Marina. Crushing past this anchorage towards the end of our Loop was a slap of reality. We've come a long way since this first anchorage and training dealing with tides and currents. A great moment for us along our adventure....Honor Graduates!

NOTE:  After thousands of photos over the past 11 months, transferring them from my iPhone, 35mm Camera, Charlie's iPhone, iPads, then my laptop....dumping, organizing, selecting them late each night to keep our Blog current...this is the first time I've accidentally deleted a picture.  It was the photo of the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral seen from our boat. (Ugh).

It looked like this stock photo below but was much further away.

We are "here".

So nice to be docked again with Elizabear crew!

At port....love those bikes!

Denise, Garmin, (me), and Beth. A great evening meeting and enjoying time with great people! Life is good! This is what's it's all about!

Sunday, March 27, 2016

Rainy weather kept us at port. We relaxed and enjoyed Easter Sunday aboard waiting for a weather window to move north.

Monday, March 28, 2016

If you can complete the entire Great Loop, cruising over 5,000 miles within one year without one medical issue, you are truly those rare fortunate boaters. We are not them....

At 3:00 a.m. Sunday morning, Charlie had a severe kidney stone issue. Knowing the local hospital was less than 3 miles away and being Charlie was an "experienced kidney stone victim", he opted to call a cab to get to the E.R. before he was debilitated ($5 fare). Having been through this similar medical situation many times we decided he go alone and I join him later in the morning as this could take days in the hospital and Garmin needed to be walked. After sunrise, I studied the bus system and made my way to Parrish Medical Center. (We had no doubt we could simply wake up Denise or Beth for a ride...but we both decided long ago that when doing this Loop we would be self-sufficient and avoid being needy and relying others.) 

You have to love Florida! Piano music in the hospital lobby....

...courtesy shuttle from the parking lot if needed....and the city bus drops you off at the front entrance to the hospital (for $1.50)! Leads me to believe Florida truly does cater to the elderly....Gawd, I'm not even age 55! But thank you! Apparently, "we" are elderly.

Wildlife roadside in front of marina.

Dog park steps away from the marina overlooking the ICW.

G-Man chilling with "some dog" (although a very cute lovable one, that's NOT Dylan) at the dog park....he's missing Dylan.

We want to give a HUGE "thank you" to Michael and Cathy Rodgers who we'd contacted and asked their assistance to join us aboard to finish our Loop and dock in Jacksonville this week. Knowing Charlie was still dealing with his kidney stone issue and he could be debilitated at any moment over the next month prompted us to have another experienced captain aboard. (I'm confident in my skills at the helm, but with these El Nino and spring thunderstorms, while Charlie possibly is needing 911 at the same time, wasn't smart nor safe.)  They were so generous to agree, even as they are in their final week of preparation to begin their own Great Loop Adventure! We had no doubt that many others here would also have been so generous to assist us. We simply are not comfortable asking for assistance.

GREAT NEWS! Charlie gave birth to his new stone a few hours ago....WHEW! 

Our Loop can continue as normal!  Michael and Cathy are off the hook! Now we can get to Jacksonville without needing a backup plan/captain and be part of their "sending off" party to begin their adventure of a lifetime!

(Did I mention that Charlie had another kidney stone issue while en route along the Trent Severn Waterway in Canada and didn't tell me?! He's one tough Captain!)