Feb 11 ```  We are in Florida!

On Friday Feb 7, I called my brother Tom to wish him a happy birthday.  The day was great.  We have a home base at Bayfront Park near Homestead, FL, right on Biscayne Bay.  We sailed across the bay to Boca Chita Key, about 10 miles, hoping to dock there, but it was very full!  Instead we decided to anchor, our first anchor at sea, and our first 'free' night. 

In the distance, right at sunset, we could see a storm coming in. Then the heavy rain and wind began.  Our anchor dragged, gave way about 6 pm.  We are adrift!  We got the anchor to set one more time, but the anchor continued to drag all night, and we did not get any more sleep that night.

To make matters worse, the motor wasn't running quite right.  It died when we tried to idle or shift gears into reverse.  Finally, the sun came up and we were surrounded by dense fog.  Using the GPS we were able to navigate back to our harbor! 

On a positive note, we have seen dolphins and sea turtles from the deck of our boat, have gone swimming, bathed with our homemade shower, gone roller blading, walking and met lots of people. 

We have purchased a new anchor (Delta plow) that we are confident will be the correct anchor for our purposes.  We are waiting for the carburetor to be cleaned and we will be back on the water tomorrow.

But, we have to be back to Bayfront Marina on Friday, because after Dan auditioned at the Playa Grill there, he was offered a gig on Valentine's Day!

All is very very good here.  The weather is about 83 degrees and the winds have been fair.