Team Leip Travels

Tuesday, August 11, 2026

10 July 2026 Sanford: Eye Doctor and a Quick Sail

My appointment was at 10 AM and so we got up early, broke camp, showered and drove the 30 minutes to get to the office. The eye floaters are sill blocking my vision but the doc says there is little that they can do. After the appointment we put the sail boat into the water and sailed for about 2 hours in total. It was very sunny and by noon the temperature was getting uncomfortable even on the water. We sailed back to the ramp but had to wait until a county worker moved his truck so we could load up. We just had to laugh at the guy's lack of awareness. A fun time on the water and we packed up and headed home.

The sun is up and so are we

A quick walk to the dock

It extends a good distance into the water

time to get back to camp and get to work

This old osprey is getting pestered by a crow

It can still fly faster

At the beach a guy was learning how to kite surk

All suited up

This will take some time to aster

The pontoons of the red rocket extend

In she goes

Still some setting up to do

And we are sailing!

https://youtube.com/shorts/vNjgGu8bZm4

Look, no hands!

https://youtube.com/shorts/kN0inBeWq78

We pulled the sailboat out and found some shade to work in. Lots of parts to pack away

It has been 4 years and 35 days since we began our Migration

9 July 2026 Titusville: Bioluminescence Is Really Cool

After driving all around during the day, we stopped and got some large Publix salads to eat for dinner. We purchased some adult beverages as well and we had a nice meal at camp. There was still a stiff breeze coming off the water and sailing would have been a bit of work. We talked to some folks and they told us that there is bioluminescence to observe at the docks once it got dark enough to see it. Ken thought that if the wind died down a bit we could sail in the nighttime and see all the plankton lighting up as we sailed. As the evening progressed, the beers went down very easily and soon all thoughts of sailing vanished. We were able to see the bioluminescence down at the dock area. It glowed nearly continuously around the pillars of the dock and also as fish were swimming by. At one point a big tarpon swam towards the dock and a large blue streak accompanied the tarpon. This scared off all the smaller fish and they scattered like a firework exploding. All around the dock little streaks of blue light zigzagged away from the dock. This was a spectacular sight.

The rocket garden is across the Banana River but my 40x zoom picked it out

Is it alive? I had to poke it with a stick to determine that is was a clump of plant matter

Dogs romping in the dog park

Time to glue the wire bird

Task completed

It is finally cooling off

Down at the dock

The wind is still pretty strong

The evening thunderstorms off to the north

It has been 4 years and 34 days since we began our Migration

Thursday, August 6, 2026

9 July 2026 Titusville: Time to Cool Down

We left the birding fields and returned to our hotel room. Did I mention that it was an air-conditioned hotel room fully equipped with shower facilities? These showers were better than the truck stop showers that last night's camp ranger suggested for us. We cooled down, enjoyed all of the AC and checked out at noon. We drove all around the Titusville area. We saw the rocket garden, got some lunch, checked out the boat launch facilities at several locations. Sailing Ken's boat was a possible afternoon activity but the heat was oppressive.