Fourth of July, Manatees, and our first solo boat trip

 

I sure hope this video works.  This is the first time I've tried putting on a video, and this is the coolest.  We came across a huge manatee right next to our boat so we turned on the hose  (one of the marina guys told us they love fresh water) and started videoing.  They are so tame and let Lucy and Noah pet them while they guzzled the hose water.  It was so VERY cool!  This was a moment that reminds us of why we are doing this crazy adventure!

Pretty huge huh?  Just one visited us this time, but we saw a group of 4-5 the day before too. Apparently they hang out at the marina often. 

The fourth of July was a fun day. We got up early and cleaned and scrubbed the whole deck of the boat and made it look pretty. Then we were ready for some fun.  We met 2 families from the St. Augustine ward at the beach and we played there.  We tried out the boogie boards and they were really fun.  The picture is Noah on the left, and Lucy is the one mostly buried in the wave.

After the beach, we went back to the marina for a pot luck pool party and ate lots of yummy food. Then, the missionaries from the new ward came and visited with us and they really liked the boat and we had fun visiting with them.

After that, we just relaxed on the boat and waited for it to get dark for the fireworks.  One of the things I love about this boating thing is how everyone waves when boats go by.  I think it is an unwritten rule or something because everyone does it.  We just sat there and waved as everyone went by to go out on to the water to watch fireworks. 

It finally got dark and we turned on the boat party lights and got ready for the fireworks.

We sat on the top of the boat and we had a great view of the fireworks show.  It was a busy, fun day!

So, we have taken the dinghy out a few times this week and it is really fun.  Last night we even saw a few whales close to us (forget what kind but they look a lot like dolphins but are black- very pretty). But we haven't taken the boat out on our own yet... until today.  We were waiting to get this small starter wire part for the engine that should be replaced this week, but today we decided to practise docking and stuff and then when that went well, we decided to go out in the intracoastal water way for a short ride. (The engine can be started by bypassing the wire and just jumping it, but we didn't want to go far til it is totally fixed)  Anyway, so we went out on our first solo ride on the big boat and it went really quite well.  It felt wonderful!  And though we need a little practise with the docking, we thought we did a pretty good job for our first time.

Captain Paul

Captain Kate?  I don"t think so, but I did spend a while driving/ practising steering while we were on our ride.  Aren"t I so brave?

Just a little FYI.  Lucy and I are going to girls camp tomorrow morning for the week so I probably wont have an entry for awhile.  We will take a boating break for a little camping adventure, and the others will work on some boating practise this week.  Should be fun for all of us.