Recuperating at Marineland

So, like most men, I am a big wuss when it comes to getting sick. A cold virus has infected the entire boat and I am the last one to get sick. You never would have heard a peep from the girls regarding their sickness because they bucked up and took it like champions. I, on the other hand, am flayed out in the cockpit looking like Tom Hanks at the end of “Philadelphia”.

We are currently located at the Marineland Marina in Marineland, Florida. (Clever name huh?) Anyway, we were planning on leaving here tomorrow for Daytona Beach and then out into the Atlantic for a run down to Cape Canaveral. However, since I am feeling like crap and it’s absolutely lovely here we decided to postpone until Tuesday. No hurries right?

As of this writing I am about 500 feet from the ocean and a slight breeze is comforting me on this near 80 degree day. Marineland is an amazing place. Not only is it a cool little community of environmental marine scientists and grad students but the “Marineland” oceanarium is the oldest of its kind in the United States.

Yesterday we walked across the street to see the dolphins and the other sea life at the facility. Amazing. Dedicated in 1938, “Marineland” is home to the world’s oldest dolphin. Her name is Nellie and she was born in captivity in 1953. She will be 60 years old at the end of this month. The average age of a dolphin is 20-25 years so she is pretty remarkable.

We are quite excited to see our friends Mark and Jodi Campbell. They are childhood friends that I haven’t seen in many years and it just so happens that they live right along our planned route near Melbourne, Florida. Always neat to see what kind of life old friends from Washougal have carved out for themselves. They better be careful, we could get used to living here.

We all enjoyed hanging out with dolphins for the day.

The pelicans were taking turns “catching a wave” out of this pipe.

If you have to be sick I highly recommend doing it here.

Tags: Marineland