A good day gone bad...

Saturday (yesterday) was Derby Day. Weather continued crappy, not necessarily a wet crappy but chilly in the morning and windy all day. A tiny bit of sun. Big dark clouds. You could almost see the rain just north of us. We decided to stay in Cocoa. The weather is supposed to be better on Sunday. The storm is supposed to blow east into the ocean.

The chilly windy weather is perfect for Rusty. He is like a pup again! We had 2 long walks to explore the town. In the morning we crossed the 2 busy streets (one in each direction) and walked past Travis Hardware further into town. The chilly breeze put a little pep in our pup’s step.

Two blocks in, past where we walked the previous day, we found the cutest park with a big playground, a huge bandstand, lots of trees and a gazebo. A boardwalk along the water displays the fountain on the west side and a  mooring field filled with sailboats (naturally) and the obligatory almost-sunk boat. And a ramp!! Rusty was scheduled for a bath when we returned so why not – down the ramp he went!! He caught the stick 5 or 6 times then we wandered back to the marina.

Bath day!! Rusty has an odd patch under his collar where the fur rubbed away. Usually this is an allergic reaction that can be eased with a bath. I tell you, Rusty is a lot of work!! He seems to feel better and isn't itching as much after the bath. 

There are also these annoying bugs all over that bother Rusty too. From the no-see-ums that get us all to the newest addition - love bugs - the poor guy is a scratching mess. He seems to be better today (Sunday). 

We spent the afternoon at a great Derby party. Lots of marina folks with a ton of food in the beautiful community room watching 3 big screen HD TVs. Women with hats and fancy dresses. This is not like Venetian Marina. Kermit and I were in t-shirts and shorts, hatless. 

Most of all, it is not like Venetian Marina because we don’t know anyone. We try really hard to be social, reaching out to say hello to people who don’t need more friends. They are friendly enough but they have their circle. They know we are leaving. Why get too cozy with folks who are leaving? I know this is how strangers feel when they come to a party with our club. It made me very homesick. I went back to the boat to watch the later races with Rusty.

The afternoon walk was wonderful too. Rusty and I walked in the other direction, west then north, down the boardwalk towards the library. I never saw the library before. I just knew it was there because I saw the signs. It is huge! Right on the river, with a huge mansion in front that is used by the library management but clearly used to be a fancy showplace.

We keep meeting the same tall lanky fellow, Jack, and his little terrier Ally. He is really nice. He is clearly athletic, probably in this late 70s maybe older. He first introduced himself by noticing Kermit’s ASIC athletic shoes, saying they are the best shoes. He has worn them for 30 years (see, he is clearly athletic). He told all sorts of stories about traveling in Europe and Russia, some by air, some by boat. He talked about being in Holland by barge, touring the huge locks and dams that keep the water out of that waterlogged country. And flying really low over the country of Georgia into Austria and noticing how all the homes, towns, and cities were clustered along the rivers. The rivers are the lifeblood of civilization.

Rusty and I walked back to the boat to discover that Kermit had thrown away my brand new Nikon waterproof, shatterproof camera in a fit of misplaced cleanliness. Just threw it overboard with a cooler of ice. Stupid, ridiculous, wasteful, and infuriating. I only had that camera for 3 weeks.

So a good day turned bad. No pictures of Cocoa since theatre night. No pictures of Jack or Ally or the wonderful park or Rusty at the ramp swimming in the river. All those pictures sunk to the bottom of the Cocoa Village Marina. It will cost Kermit a lot of cigars to replace that camera. In fact I suspect he will be giving up cigars. He just doesn’t know it yet.

I hope Kermit orders a replacement camera and I hope it arrives at St. Augustine next week. In the meantime the current frostiness on our boat might lift in the next few days. We will make due with Kermit’s 25 pound (heavy like an anvil) camera (he will carry it of course). Time heals these sorts of things. An apology will help too.

We left today around 10:30am. It is pretty windy but sunny with only a few clouds in the sky. The heavy cloud cover this morning left over from a bad storm overnight has moved east. We can see huge banks of clouds along the ocean to our east. Not a bad day for travel for Good Karma. There are almost no boats on the water. It is windy but manageable as long as we keep the smiles open on our isinglass to reduce the "billboard" effect. 

Our target is New Smyrna, at MM 846.0, a distance of about 50 miles. There is a Cinco de Mayo festival in New Smyrna Beach today that I would like to attend.