At dock in North Palm Beach, FL

Welcome back. We have been at dock for 3 nights now and we are starting to get use to this dock life again. I found a dentist down the street (another boater too) who was able to do the crown for my root canal this week. So more drilling and filling and temporary crown yesterday with the final crown on Friday- will this ever end? We finished provisioning for the winter, so now all that is left is to get the water maker working and the tune-up that our diesel mechanic is doing. We should be ready by Saturday and then we will watch the weather reports and wait for the next weather window to cross to the Bahamas. We do not cross when there is any North component in the winds which creates large waves against the Gulf Stream. Meanwhile we get to enjoy life in Flordia. On Saturday we will watch the Christmas Parade of Lights in the harbour. It really doesn't feel like Christmas especially with 27 degree weather!

Temperature have been unseasonable warm here in North Palm Beach. Yesterday was 82 degrees but this afternoon it cooled down after a front blew threw this after. It really is a beautiful area with all the palm, banyan vine trees and flowers. I could see myself living here and giving up winter forever. This morning we went for a bike ride to West Marine to pick up a few things and stopped at IHOP for breakfast. IHOP is an annual tradition and the place where I got alot of my inspiration for the Boatel breakfasts. This morning I had grilled banana bread covered in caramel sauce, whipped cream and bananas..oooooohhhhh.  There are somethings American which I love and other things that make us ponder. For example:

•  In Florida they have "Speed Humps" instead of our "Speed Bumps"
• I saw someone in a winter coat and hat at the store tonight and the stores are full of winter boats, coats and winter hats...hmmmmmmmmmm they should visit northern Ontario now that's cold.
• You can buy beer and wine in grocery stores but not before 11:00 on Sundays

Today I saw with my feet in the water and watched a baby manatee and her mom swim around our dock. I was tempted to jump in and play with the baby. I will post pictures later.