Ft Pierce to St Augustine

We are now in the oldest inhabited city in the US - St Augustine. We arrived late yesterday evening and have yet to get out and explore. There is a lot to see here so we have booked ourselves into the marina for 4 nights. The dock master, Paul was most helpful when we arrived. He stayed late to welcome us into our slip and help us with getting the boat in safely due to the strong current. He gave us lots of lovely info about the city so we say a BIG thank-you to Paul.
The journey here was uneventful. Gary finally fixed the generator and we now have AC when not in a marina. We have spent a lot of money on the boat but would have spent more had not Gary been so persistent in trying to fix things himself. That is one thing I love about him. Poor guy, was out the other day on his bicycle when he hit a patch of sand and went down onto his handle bars breaking his front tooth quite badly (he now looks like Bluebeard the Pirate). We sent a photo to his dentist in Maryland who recommended having it checked out prior to returning home. We found a marina with a dentist next door and he gave Gary the all clear for not having anything done to it at the moment. So, now my poor Gary smiles with his broken tooth showing!! Luckily, the nerve is not exposed so it is not causing Gary any problems.
On our journey to St Augustine we stayed one night at Titusville. If you have been following my blog this is the same marina that we stayed at for over three weeks last January/February to have the prop fixed. We wanted to say hi to Jerry, Tricia, Rick and Robert who were so kind to us last year. We have not seen manatees anywhere in Florida since we last saw them in Titusville last year and would you believe it, we saw them again at the Marina. I thought they would have migrated to somewhere else by now. Again, they liked running fresh water and would gather where they could drink the water. I saw a mother and her calf and took a couple of photos of them.

When we left Titusville it was at least 80 degrees in the cabin upstairs and I was cold. Gary said I will never be a Marylander again!!! He took this photo of me wrapped up in a large beach towel to keep warm.

We stayed out for one night and I decided to go fishing. I have always liked fishing and the quiet time I had with my Dad. So Dad, this one is for you. I love you and miss you.

OK, so the photo's a fake. I did not catch a thing even though I was using shrimp. The shrimp was browny coloured when I first started fishing and pink (as though it had been cooked) by the time I finished. There was a very strong current so all the fish must have been swept out to sea!! I did, however catch a large Cannonball Jelly fish in my net. These creatures were whizzing by in the current and I just had to have a closer look. The thing weighed at least 2lbs and was quite firm on the outside. It was more like a bowling ball than a cannonball. I tipped it out on deck for a closer look at its tentacles and its underside and boy, was it pretty.

This gives you something to compare the size to. No, that is not my big foot!!

This shows the underside and the inside of the jellyfish on the left upper side.
I looked it up on the blog and it has a very interesting sexual reproduction history. If you are interested in learning more, blog cannonball jellyfish. I also read that if stung by its tentacles (I must be careful how I spell that!!!) you can get cardiac problems so I am glad I did not do anything silly!!. Apparently, humans can eat them but they are favoured by leatherback sea turtles. Leatherback turtles are endangered so eating their food is not helping them
survive. When I had finished examining it I put it back in the water and it floated away on the fast current.
We passed a couple of interesting looking ships yesterday. One looked like it had just sailed out of the 16th century and the other was a live aboard tug.

We also passed this strange sight. I think it was advertising a restaurant.

No blog would be complete without a bird photo. So here is today's picture of a rookery (a nesting place for any type of bird not just rooks).

As you can see there are pelicans and herons sharing the same nesting ground.
I actually got a partial photo of a dolphin. They are so difficult to photograph because as soon as they see the boat they dive below the water. My goal is to get a really good photo of one before we finish our trip.

When I was in Tarpon Springs I was given a piece of a plumeria (frangipani) plant. I had bought one in Disney 7 years ago when I was there with my friend, Linda. The one in Maryland despite loving care has only ever grown leaves, dropped leaves, grown leaves, dropped leaves etc etc etc. After having this piece of plumeria for 6 weeks it has flowered and has been a delight to watch. The flower has grown out of the top of the stump and no leaves have yet been sighted.

Well, I am off to see the sights of St Augustine. Have great Memorial Day weekend everyone.