Getting close

March 29, 2021

Today we took our last dinghy ride and pulled the dinghy out of the water, cleaned her up, deflated her and wrapped her up for storage. Our trustee 6 hp Nissan motor was also cleaned and prepped for storage. Both inflatable and motor are still looking good after several years exposure to salt water and air. We are trying to get ahead of the game and get some of the “closing up” chores done before Pursuit is pulled from the water on March 31.

Leaving is always hard but today it is 91° and it is Not a dry heat. Looking at the temperatures at home, we see 70° on Monday. Great! We recall on our way home one year, standing in a rest stop looking for our boots in the back of the truck. Doesn’t look like that will happen this year.

One thing we are always asked about is bugs. This trip has been glorious because there have been no “no-see’ums”. Actually we have seen very few bugs. It’s been great. Other years we have been plagued by the little biting gnats. I was prepared with several types of repellent but never had to dig it out. Well, ok, last night at an outdoor restaurant I did see a few buzzing around Coconut… they can come now, we’re leaving 😏

We did one last trip to the beach and selected our last restaurant in Cocoa Village. The Village really is nice, a lot of dog friendly places and many more to try next year.

As for our last trip to the beach, we saw a “new to us” type of surfing. We think it may be called wing surfing. There was a guy zipping along; he was wearing a wetsuit and using a hydrofoil surfboard. It was a medium size surfboard. A hydrofoil surfboard has a 2 foot keel with a wing on the bottom. This allows the surfboard to rise up out of the water. Have you seen the hydrofoil racing sailboats? The same technology is used here.

First, he had to get out into deep enough water for the keel not to hit the sandy bottom. He’s also carrying with him a kite/sail which is not attached to the board. Once out deep enough, he stood up on the board and lifted the sail into the wind. The sail was in a delta shape, approximately 3 feet wide in the middle and 7 feet tall.

This is hard to describe, but as he was standing on the board and holding the sail, he was pumping the sail back and forth with his arms to try to gain speed while at the same time, maintaining his balance on the board in the waves. When he went faster, the board lifted up out of the water onto the hydrofoil and he exploded across the water. I am adding some photos but I couldn’t do it justice. Next year, hopefully, I will remember to bring my camera with the zoom lens.

So our beach days are done for a few months. Time to head back home. We have a tiny deck to design and new gardens to plan. We are putting stuff in tubs to take off the boat. If it hasn’t been used in two years, off it goes!