Tuesday was a nice warm day on the water, but it was very slow going as we were fighting the current and head winds all day. We had hoped to get to Daytona Beach that first day, but we ended up stopping 20 miles earlier due to the slow progress. Wednesday saw us arrive at the bridge in New Smyrna around 2 pm and, as expected, it was closed until 5pm for painting. So we anchored out in front of the bridge to wait until it opened. We anchored for the night just slightly farther along.
Ruth called her parents from there (via Skype) as we had an internet connection. Ruth's parents had both been in the hospital for a couple of weeks. Up until this point things had been looking ok for both of them. On Thursday Ruth received the news that her mom had died earlier that morning.
As we were anchored alone near a small town without many services, we headed out after Ruth had processed the initial shock. We wanted to get to Titusville to meet up with friends on two other boats. Ruth spent the day in a daze. Navigating the boat provided her with some distraction. We made it with just enough time to get anchored and dinghy over to our friends' boat before the launch of space shuttle Atlantis. We were able to watch the launch while listening to the NASA/shuttle communications on the radio.
New Smyrna Anchorage
Cement factory Anchorage (One anchor and a line to a tree to stop swinging)
Atlantis Launch
Atlantis Launch
