April 7, 2011.

A quick recap. Near battery disaster, Lake Worth, Vero Beach, new batteries, resumed breathing, Melbourne, Mosquito Lagoon, Daytona Beach, Saint Augustine and a hoolie.

The horrible weather blew through Saint Augustine by noon but we decided to stay put for the night and we were treated to a beautiful sunset. In the morning we pulled the hook in concert with a bridge opening. We headed south through the bridge and slid right onto the fuel dock at the municipal marina. We topped off the fuel tank and made the next scheduled bridge opening at 0900.

We were once again headed north on the ICW as the wind was forecast to be semi-brisk from the north. We knew that we had made the right decision as we overheard 2 sailboats that had just left the inlet bitching about the conditions. They turned around, came back inside and spent the day following in our wake as we plodded north.

Two years ago when we were on our way to Saint Augustine a couple who had been reading our blog wrote and asked us if we would like to meet for a meal or drinks as we passed through town. We met Terri & Larry of the s/v Vixen and we had a great time.

This year they wrote and invited us to stop in and spend the night at their dock. They’re only 2 miles up the Saint Johns River and have enough room behind their house for our boat as well as theirs. We came around the last bend in the river and they were standing on the dock waiting to catch our lines.

I’ve always said that our favorite thing about cruising is the people we’ve met. Terri & Larry are no exception. We hung out for an hour before Terri whisked Christy off to Publix to grab some fresh vegetables. Imagine if you had house guests drop in and the first thing they wanted to do was to pile into the car and head out to the grocery store. The girls were back in no time due to the fact that Terri’s land transportation vehicle can comfortably cruise at more than 60 knots. Creepy.

Larry grilled up some fabulous steaks along with salmon, corn on the cob and fresh salad. We ate, drank, had dessert and swapped stories for hours. Their dog Charlie also joined us for dinner.

It seems that whenever they do some grilling it’s become habit for Larry to throw on a piece of fish for Charlie. I thought they were kidding at first but soon there was a piece of salmon broken up into Charlie’s bowl of hard round things. He was sitting there waiting for it and got all excited when the platter came in from the grill. When I die it would be nice to come back as a dog in their house.

At the end of the evening when we were leaving the house we were astonished to meet Tucker hanging out in their backyard. There's a 6 foot tidal range at their dock and when we headed up to the house we got off the boat with the aid of a step ladder. When the boat rose high enough Tucker decided he’d like to stretch his legs a bit and jumped ashore. It was pitch dark, the waters flowing past at better than a knot and Tucker decided to try something new. Tucker doesn’t jump. The boat was held off the dock by the current so it was at least a 2 foot jump. He had himself a little party peeing on all of Charlie’s trees and special spots. My legs were shaky thinking about how we could have very easily just gone from 2 dogs to none in a matter of 3 months.

The next morning we topped up the water tank and headed up to the house to say our goodbyes. S/V Vixen is leaving in a couple of days for a few months of cruising down to the Keys. Then they’re headed home for some house chores before heading north for a few more months. So if you see Terri & Larry on s/v Vixen make sure you tell em’ “hey” for us on the Veranda. And if you have em’ over for dinner make sure to throw a little somethin' on the grill for Charlie.