Jan 7:

Today was a weather day. The wind that came up yesterday afternoon continued throughout the day making it out of the question that I rest and recuperate a bit. Small craft warnings were up.

It also was an excellent opportunity to visit the Indian River Habitat for Humanity affiliate in Vero Beach. I met with Andy Bowler, Executive Director, and toured several homes under construction meeting a construction manager and several volunteers. Andy explained to me that in this area there are about 600 "condemnable" homes being lived in and many of them they have tried to buy and replace but the owners have refused to give up their income producing properties. He showed me a house that had been run into by a truck and practically destroyed. The landlord had simply covered the hole with plywood and continued to rent the house. All these things made me extra pleased that we were supporting this organization. I am even more determined to row a long way.

Today was also a day to catch up with email. I was delighted to learn that we had received some large donations. I took the car to get a long overdue lubrication and we went to an orange grove to order gifts proving our location in Indian River County, FL.

Today’s paper had two pictures and a short write up by Alex. Like so many he called our boat a "canoe" which it is not. The picture of us walking sitting in the boat does not really reveal the fact that we were stuck on the sand bar. I knew he was taking pictures and pretended to keep rowing!