After our launch outing, we returned to Cocoa to stay for a few days. We borrowed Susan’s car to do some re-provisioning, fill a dive tank, and do some other errands. We also enjoyed a night out with Sue & Jim at a local restaurant. Great meal, great company. The autopilot was returned to its home in the pilothouse console, the modified network cabling all reconnected, and we re-commissioned the autopilot. Re-commissioning runs the course computer in the autopilot through a “learning” sequence, where the gyro and the steering feedback are calibrated for the way the boat handles. There seems to be some improvement in the response as the pilot makes course changes more accurately now. The tweaking of the autopilot is helped along by also tweaking the NMEA data, or sentences that are passed over the NMEA network between different pieces of nav electronics. In any case, it’s wonderful to have our nav system back at 100%!
We departed Cocoa Wednesday morning for a leisurely cruise (on autopilot!) back to Vero for a few days. We visited with Don & Ellen aboard Sirius Endeavor, checked up on Molly’s pal Bella who was still recovering from her spaying, but very glad to see Molly again! We stayed through the weekend, enabling us to visit the Vero Farmers’ Market for our 3rd time! The fresh bread is a wonderful treat. The bread man is beginning to recognize us, or at least the dogs. “Oh, you’re the people with the two dogs…..” We hear that a lot! More trips to the dog park at Vero, where both dogs have friends. (The field is visible on the map, just east of our push-pin, between the pin & the ball diamond), It is remarkable to recognize that they have favorites, and can recognize their pals from a long way off. We were particularly amused by Molly’s reaction to the appearance of an Australian Shepherd who very closely resembled her best bud Louie from Stansbury this summer. She spotted the aussie, and bolted off toward her. You could sense that she was perplexed that this looked like Louie, but couldn’t figure out why she wasn’t getting the reaction she expected. Tell me dogs don’t remember……
So, another couple of enjoyable days in Vero. Weather is still unseasonably cool, we are in the routine now of running the genset twice a day, once in the morning to do the bulk recharging, water production, laundry, and some welcome heat, and again in the evening an hour or so before hitting the rack, to warm things up a bit. Lows still in the high 30’s and low 40’s overnight. That heat feels pretty good early in the morning!!
