01/01/2025 ICW Day 1 : Long day with good winds.

Today we had favorable winds from the North. This meant that the air was drier and also that we could move on a beam reach (the fastest point of sail) almost all day long… except when the wind died and we found ourselves in one foot deep water.

Last night, we camped on a tiny island that was more water than land. Miraculously, there were no bugs, so we left the tent doors open and enjoyed the cool breeze for several hours until midnight. That is when the noises began. There were two noises to keep one awake - first the bang bang of fireworks. Second was the bang bang of a couple having sex on the other side of island - either it was loud, or sound travels far out here. I heard some stuff I didn’t want to hear.

Today’s sailing was fun. Janet got up on the paddle board and relaxed a bit two times. That was good because in order tonenjoy the sailing, I think we need to be able to take rests from pedaling - which we did quite a bit today too.

We saw many flying fish - they magically stand on their tails and flit across the water surface in an upright position as if they are walking on water. Another fish jumped onto the boat. We saw a few large fish in the water and several signs of LARGE lurking creatures. I don’t know what they were.. rays? Crocs? Sharks? All exist here, but usually you would just see the big splash and the sand cloud.