Paradise turned chilly - 35 outside - 48 inside

Another windy cold night. We do have heat on board but we don't leave it running while we sleep.  Though we are happy to report our heater is working flawlessly this year. Those who have followed our travels may recall right from the start we had so many problems with  the heater - turned out to be a faulty regulator - 2 fall trips, a couple of diesel spills in the boat, a fume filled boat that almost kept us from ever waking up again  and many calls and emails to Dickinson - we solved the problem. It's funny because my friend Amy recently noted we didn't look as cold in the photos as we have at times remarked in our notes.  Part of that is that if we are cold and having to schlep everything we own into the dingy to get to shore - we often aren't carrying the camera.  The other piece is that though the Florida sun shines bright we are living in the weather . Camping - so the tent is real cold in the morning but with coffee and the campfire we warm up while the sun tires to warm the world.

Living in the weather has its bright side. Instead of being hunkered down avoiding the chill, the wind or the sun and the heat we are out and about.  We dress in layers if it's cold, but we feel alive, we have seen more sunsets, more moon rises, more birds, more sea life in our three boat trips than I have seen in the rest of my lifetime together.

That said this all a whole lot more fun when it's warmer out.  The lounge is completely full - a lot of boaters don't have any heat. It's hard to concentrate and answer my business email with so much activity around us.

We've been doing some work on the boat - Installing insulation around the inside of the fridge - a 2 hour job turned to 4 - but well worth it though with this cold our fridge isn't using as much battery anyway.  We have been organizing our cabinets - a different year as we didn't do the run down the eastern sea board - we just hopped aboard and started living.  Taking some time to get organized and do some repairs.  Tiller loves exploring cabinets as we organize. He's been pretty good though at times we have felt he may not be up to par - not sure if anything is really wrong or not - I don't think he is getting to land as much as he likes.  Libby and Dick left the anchorage yesterday - had to head back to Vero for Dr appointments - Tiller will very much miss them as will we. he still loves his dingy rides and often hops in the dingy the moment we get back to the boat.