West Marine

November 27
Finally, enjoyed a shower in Cape Canaveral. Went around to Cocoa, FL looking for some stainless steel hardware pieces, and then went to West Marine for some electronic charts of the Bahamas, a courtesy flag, and a new starting battery for the Volvo engine. Came back to the boat, Diane was finishing up some laundry and baking cookies. Geez, this is a good life! Headed back out for some more shopping to West Marine for a new fishing rod, and then headed to Walmart for some fresh food. It was a day spent on the road or inside a store. Arrived back... hung out at the laptop to update my blog... and in the process the convection microwave stopped working in the middle of our dinner time. It too needed a rest / cool down. Things are back in operation and we are sheduled to eat chicken wings, squash and green beans. Talk to you all soon.

Walk On The Moon

November 26
An early start in Cape Canaveral, we called enterprise rent-a-car, and got a Chevrolet impala for two days. Today we were determined to visit The Kennedy Space Center!!! With the help of the GPS we drove to Merritt Island and found our way to the NASA space center, where we toured around for the entire day. From 11am - 5pm! It was so big, that we needed to take tour buses to visit all the various locations. Most of the pictures depict our experience at NASA. The vehicle assembly building, launch pad(s), Apollo missions, the space garden, memorial park, and an IMAX of walking on the moon, narrated by Tom Hanks. After spending the entire day looking at space shuttles, it made me think of becoming an Astronaut. They say that the average astronaut is 32.5 years old, is married, has two children, one dog, and a corvette. Based on the facts I will have to find myself a husband, bear kids, buy a dog, own a corvette and wait another 9 and a half years. That is a little too "hardcore" for me. I'll pass on the astronaut career for now. We came back to the boat to a tuna cassarole and then watched The Good Wife. Natalie signing out from Cape Canaveral.

Cape Canaveral, FL

November 25
It was a damp and lonely night up at the helm, between midnight and 3 am. Nothing very eventful occurred. Winds were blowing 10-17 knots from the North East, completely behind us and making for some 30 hours of motor sailing. I give my respects to the inboard Volvo engine, it deserves a pat on the back and well deserved rest. Our speed over ground was consistently averaging 5 to 7 knots. Fresh water, also known as rain gave our decks a good salt-free rinse, before arriving into port. We had a couple shoals to by-pass before entering into the channel to Cape Canaveral. From the ocean we could see one of the many space shuttle launch pads. Tomorrow we might be going to the Kennedy Space Center for a tour. This port is very wide and filled with Cruise Ships and other large freighters. The marina we are docked at is called "Cape Marine", as we entered into our slip we noticed another sailing vessel named Joana from Quebec. They noticed our boat and we were both amazed that the vessel names were identical. Two girls, a welder from the maritimes purchased the boat with a friend and sailed from Canada to Cape Canaveral, they have been here for the past 15 months. Doing repairs and getting their steel hull ready for the warmer places. Dolphins have been following us... they are even found in the marina. P.S. It's the day before American Thanksgiving!