Picnic

Day #24: "The day you buy a boat it begins to sink--how quickly is a matter of the maintenance practices." This, and other words of wisdom, percolated-up at today's Waterway Radio Cruising Club (WRCC) picnic. The members of this club bridge what otherwise are two disparate hobbies: cruising and amateur radio. One thing for sure, they're a fascinating bunch. One couple is on their way to Georgetown, Bahamas, making this their 21st winter cruising there. Rick Muething, who sailed his boat from California to Florida via the Panama Canal, is the developer of Winmor (which enables email via ham radio). Many of the attendees we knew by voice only, it was nice to finally meet them face to face.

Florida, perhaps justifiably so, is the butt of many jokes; a fair proportion focused on its large senior citizen population. For example: 'Florida, God's waiting room.'; or, 'Florida's number one imports? Old people and empty coffins.'; finally, 'You know you're in Florida by its drivers: two hands gripping the wheel; blue hair barely visible above the seat; and driving 35mph in the interstate's left lane--with the turn signal blinking incessantly.'. It was while listening to a local FM radio station today that got me thinking about Florida and its seniors. The station was playing 'easy listening' a euphemism for old folks' music. But it was the music from my youth: ELO, Beatles, Beach Boys, Queen, etc. Oh, oh, ...

We've dropped the hook just north of the Sebastian Inlet. The inlet is about halfway between Melbourne and Vero Beach, FL. 20nm today and 971nm for the journey. DBH