 Christmas
on the Jule III!, though we missed family, was exciting to spend
the Holidays on Voyage 2000. We had Christmas dinner with our
friends in Melbourne and enjoyed playing with our God-kids. We
set up our boat Christmas tree and a couple of Christmas cards on
the microwave in the galley. No snow in Florida, but it sure was
cold! As were came to learn it was one of the coldest winters in
Central Florida. Great! Our diesel heater kept the cold out of
Jule III, but it sure didn't seem like Florida.
 Samantha
Jane readily took to the life on a sailing vessel. She claimed
Bob's berth for her daytime naps and Ann's stomach for the night
time siestas. SJ is an indoor cat, and does not usually venture
out of the cabin. When she does, a pelican or heron usually is
enough to send her back to the bunks. We have to be careful when
we are working on the boat. She loves to explore all of the
recesses in the bilge and electronics areas. She also likes to
chew cable.
 Our
business customers support our 'working underway' approach. We
are in the Internet security business. Bob has installed all
sorts of communications interfaces to the Internet (cellular,
wireless, SSB). In addition, all of his work is secured through
all of the latest encryption standards. Check out our section on
communications for the technical nitty-gritty. Bob was busy at
work even during the Christmas holidays (well sorta busy).
 Levi
and Gina got many Christmas presents, including rawhide bones,
Moist and Meaty, and their Christmas stocking. We gave them a
special boat present; their very own boat plank. The plank
facilitated their embarking/debarking even during tidal extremes.
Levi loved it but Gina never really trusted the funny looking
thing. We used it anytime the 'kids' were with us on the boat.
Handmade by skilled craft-persons, we could easily disassemble it
for storage.
 During
our layover at Port Canaveral, the Queen Elizabeth II (QE II)
made a port call. They don't build them like they used to. QE II
had not visited the Port since the mid 1980s. She was conducting
a worldwide cruise and we were lucky enough to see her during her
stopover here. As we had a rental car, we drove over to the pier
where QE II was moored. We were not the only ones! The arrival of
the QE II was a real event. There was traffic congestion on the
roads around the QE II.
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