The photos are thumbnails, so click them to see them at full size!

Natasha, unfortunately, had to fly back to Russia directly after the New Year in order to take exams.  Since other than law school exams, nothing happens in Russia until after the Old Calendar New Year (14 January), I flew to Florida to see my Dad.

Dad's porch.

The weather was magnificent, so what better thing to do than go out on the sea?

We sailed down the Gulf past Naples, to a cosy anchorage between Marcos Island and Coconut Island, a passage of about seven hours.  We partly sailed and partly motored (after the wind died); the Gulf was dead calm.

We managed to make our anchorage by cocktail hour (17:00 sharp, a holy tradition in Dad's house) both nights.

The Ritz ain't got nothin' on cocktail hour aboard Haleakela.

I was able to keep in touch with Natasha by e-mail.

On the second day, we motored up into the mangrove swamps, following a narrow, poorly-marked channel.  My father is crazy; this is not a passage for an ocean-going sailing vessel drawing 4 1/2 feet of water.  According to the charts, it should have been impassable for us, but somehow we made it.   It was worth it for the wildlife and nature we saw.

Pelicans everywhere.  Also osprey, egrets, miscellaneous water birds, dolphins, you name it.