This was a great paddle day with really nice weather. It did start out a bit chilly. I was toasty in my tent but the weather report said 43 degrees outside. I put on some extra clothes before venturing out to break camp.
My little island proved to be a really great camping spot. Here’s the morning colors before getting out on the water. 
After about a mile of paddling the sun came up. 
For the first hour or so I had some moderate head winds to deal with. Around ten the wind died and the rest of the day was like this. 
Crossing Ft. Pierce Inlet between the bridges brought a big surprise. I was cruising along near shore and a dolphin jumped right out of the water about ten feet in front of the kayak. That gave me quite the start and also a big smile. I suspect he was welcoming me to the area. I had also seen a dolphin very close to shore while I was breaking camp. I was missing the critters all the way up from the Keys but am now seeing bunches of them every day. Really nice ?.
The original plan was to do 27 miles to a camp spot about seven miles south of Vero Beach. With the weather being so nice and the prospect of such a short day to follow I decided it was not worth stopping and setting up camp so I was off to Vero Beach. I pulled in a little after 1700 having paddled just short of 35 miles with a 3.5 mph moving average. Not a bad days paddle. With that said, I was pretty pooped. ?
I’ll be in Vero Beach for a few days at my sisters house resting up and cleaning gear etc. The plan is to start heading north again on Saturday.
Happy Paddling
Making great progress Scott. Love following your Blog reports.
Awesome journey Scott. Loving the pictures and stories. All the best and Keep Paddling.