2/21/16 27 39.283N, 80 22.199W To Vero Beach Municipal
Marina Mooring #5 42.5NM
After cool start, it quickly warmed up into a beautiful day, time to shed blue jeans and fleeces. We were pleasantly surprised at how light the boat traffic had been Saturday. It appeared more locals were out for a sail than tooling around in runabouts. Not bad for a weekend day in Florida. Sunday was a different story. An early start gave us some peace and quiet as we headed on our way, but by 1000, the local runabouts started to appear everywhere, like fish flies in July, both more irritating than a problem. Good thing we didn't stop early yesterday, we had fewer miles to go with all the folks out recreating at speed.
The onshore breeze began to fill in around 1100, allowing us to catch some wind with the jib to help us on our way until the channel turned more to the E and began weaving through some spoil bank islands as we got closer to Vero. All in all, a pleasant day on the water. Fewer miles would also mean a chance to launch the dinghy with time to go for a walk after we squared away on the boat.
After cool start, it quickly warmed up into a beautiful day, time to shed blue jeans and fleeces. We were pleasantly surprised at how light the boat traffic had been Saturday. It appeared more locals were out for a sail than tooling around in runabouts. Not bad for a weekend day in Florida. Sunday was a different story. An early start gave us some peace and quiet as we headed on our way, but by 1000, the local runabouts started to appear everywhere, like fish flies in July, both more irritating than a problem. Good thing we didn't stop early yesterday, we had fewer miles to go with all the folks out recreating at speed.
The onshore breeze began to fill in around 1100, allowing us to catch some wind with the jib to help us on our way until the channel turned more to the E and began weaving through some spoil bank islands as we got closer to Vero. All in all, a pleasant day on the water. Fewer miles would also mean a chance to launch the dinghy with time to go for a walk after we squared away on the boat.
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This replica has been anchored off Grant Farm Cay for a number of years
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We requested a mooring through Tuesday, giving us time to do chores and hopefully for the next front to slide past. Apparently some weather offshore has been producing an easterly swell, causing bigger seas than local wind conditions would warrant. Small craft advisories for 6' seas have been part of the daily forecast while the wind on the ICW has been under 12 kts, most of that an afternoon onshore breeze. We're hoping once the front passes and the wind switches to the W, the sea state will drop and provide good sailing conditions for heading S. We'll see.
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We arrived at Vero before 1430 and after a brief wait for a couple
of pontoon boats to clear the fuel dock, topped off our fuel tank,
got a pump out and registered before we picking up our assigned
mooring. Rafting is normal here, so we weren't surprised a vessel
was already on the mooring. The captain had been in the office with
us and requested to be reassigned to a mooring closer to the dinghy
dock since he didn't have a functioning outboard. We were told the
mooring would be free if we waited a few minutes. However, even
after taking our time, we didn't see any one coming to move the
boat, so we rafted alongside, and began the process of launching the
dinghy, putting the outboard on and getting lines on the mooring.
After 45 minutes there was still no sign of the other captain, so
after confirming we were on the correct mooring and the other boat
was moving, we went ashore. Obviously the captain had gotten side
tracked - the boat had moved by the time we got back.
2/22/2016 Mooring #5
Monday was a lazy day. After doing a bit of cleaning, we went ashore to go for a walk, but arrived in time to catch a bus, so we went shopping instead, reversing the order we'd planned. The bus was about 10 minutes late and the driver was trying to make up time, so we did a very fast spin through the store, just catching it on it's return trip to the marina. Usually there is about 30 minutes to shop, checkout and get back to the bus stop. The next shopping trip will take longer.
After stowing the groceries, we packed a lunch and went back ashore of our walk. It was a beautiful day, and a SE breeze filled in to temper the heat of the sun. We haven't adapted to temperatures in the upper 70's yet. The area by the marina is a mix of parks, quiet streets with well maintained homes and nice shops along the beach that is interesting for walks.
The forecast for the next few days has an increasing chance for rain, so we'll keep an eye on the weather while we do chores the next few days to look for a good time to head on our way. Since we hope to hop offshore for a couple of day sails to Lake Worth and then Ft. Lauderdale to avoid a passel of bridges, we'd prefer W or NW winds, which may lengthen our stay here. Today's forecast would have us departing on Thursday, we will see.
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| Antares on Mooring #5 at the municipal marina in Vero Beach |
We walked over to the beach and were surprised the swell was under
3' rather than the forecast 6'. Conditions offshore looked
considerably better than forecast, a good thing to know. A walk
along the beach at high tide got our feet sandy and the bottoms of
my peddle pushers wet, but no shells. After sharing an orange
slushee, a mixture of fresh frozen orange juice and yogurt, we
listened to a group preforming at restaurant before heading back to
the boat.
2/22/2016 Mooring #5
Monday was a lazy day. After doing a bit of cleaning, we went ashore to go for a walk, but arrived in time to catch a bus, so we went shopping instead, reversing the order we'd planned. The bus was about 10 minutes late and the driver was trying to make up time, so we did a very fast spin through the store, just catching it on it's return trip to the marina. Usually there is about 30 minutes to shop, checkout and get back to the bus stop. The next shopping trip will take longer.
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| A little blue heron along the path at the Veteran's Memorial Park |
After stowing the groceries, we packed a lunch and went back ashore of our walk. It was a beautiful day, and a SE breeze filled in to temper the heat of the sun. We haven't adapted to temperatures in the upper 70's yet. The area by the marina is a mix of parks, quiet streets with well maintained homes and nice shops along the beach that is interesting for walks.
The forecast for the next few days has an increasing chance for rain, so we'll keep an eye on the weather while we do chores the next few days to look for a good time to head on our way. Since we hope to hop offshore for a couple of day sails to Lake Worth and then Ft. Lauderdale to avoid a passel of bridges, we'd prefer W or NW winds, which may lengthen our stay here. Today's forecast would have us departing on Thursday, we will see.
2/24/16-2/25/16 Vero Beach City Marina Mooring #5
Mooring #5 looks like good a place to sit while waiting for the arrival of the cold front. With temperatures in the 80s and a mix of sun and clouds there are worse places to hang out. A number of boats spend the winter, taking advantage of the shore side amenities until they head back north in the spring. We're playing it by ear, extending our stay day by day as warranted by the wind and weather. For the most part, the weather has been fine, with a few heavy showers arriving after our walk yesterday and again during the evening, raising the humidity level. The predicted rain on Wednesday arrived a bit later than forecast by an hour or so, with a few short breaks between showers, allowing us to dodge most of the rain while we were out and about.
Mary suggested she pick us up Wednesday morning so we could do
laundry at the condo (considerably more upscale than the machines at
the marina). Mary and I could go for a walk (we're both walkers)
during the wash cycle and she'd run us to the store for provisions
while things dried. Hard to resist an offer like that! That meant
I 'd have time to check out both Fresh Market and Publix, and
select, rather than grab, as I ran down my list. The rain held off
until we headed out the door at Publix. She fed us lunch while the
rain bucketed down, and drove us back to the marina during a brief
break in the rain.
We hoped to have Mary on board for a drink later in the day, but then the wind gusted into the 30's with rain, and whitecaps in the harbor, cancelling any plans! I was glad I wasn't not Chris who was taking an intensive diving course in Fort Pierce this week. He says it's much calmer under the surface than on top. Thanks Mary and Chris, we appreciate everything you did and had a great time visiting!
Our plan is for an early morning departure heading offshore to Lake Worth. Another early start Friday and an offshore hop will get us to Ft. Lauderdale where we plan to stay a day or so before continuing to Miami to wait for a weather window to head to Bimini. Meanwhile, we watched while the radar showed a large blotch of green sprinkled with yellow, orange and red spots. Around 1800, the sun popped out, displaying a beautiful rainbow behind the boat. The wind finally switched more to the W and quieted down, making it easier to haul the dinghy back on deck. After dinner radar showed the possibility of another batch of showers during the night, but with luck, they'll miss us, giving us a quiet night before we depart.
Lynnea
Mooring #5 looks like good a place to sit while waiting for the arrival of the cold front. With temperatures in the 80s and a mix of sun and clouds there are worse places to hang out. A number of boats spend the winter, taking advantage of the shore side amenities until they head back north in the spring. We're playing it by ear, extending our stay day by day as warranted by the wind and weather. For the most part, the weather has been fine, with a few heavy showers arriving after our walk yesterday and again during the evening, raising the humidity level. The predicted rain on Wednesday arrived a bit later than forecast by an hour or so, with a few short breaks between showers, allowing us to dodge most of the rain while we were out and about.
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| A Portuguese man-o-war with a full 'sail' - the tentacles were about 4' long |
We received a note from Doug White that the Mary and Chris
Lintermann, fellow LCYC cruisers, were currently in Vero, suggesting
we give them a call. So we did and discovered they were in a condo
about a mile from the marina. Mary invited us over, so on our
morning walk ,we went over and had caught up on their latest news.
Their plans may include a boat hunting trip to Europe later this
spring, and possibly cruising the Med - great timing with the
dollar up and some interesting vessels on the market. Sounds like a
great trip - we seem to share whatever gene it is that draws some
people to the water and boats. We're looking forward to hearing
what unfolds.
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| View of the bridge at Vero Beach, looking SW from our mooring |
We hoped to have Mary on board for a drink later in the day, but then the wind gusted into the 30's with rain, and whitecaps in the harbor, cancelling any plans! I was glad I wasn't not Chris who was taking an intensive diving course in Fort Pierce this week. He says it's much calmer under the surface than on top. Thanks Mary and Chris, we appreciate everything you did and had a great time visiting!
Our plan is for an early morning departure heading offshore to Lake Worth. Another early start Friday and an offshore hop will get us to Ft. Lauderdale where we plan to stay a day or so before continuing to Miami to wait for a weather window to head to Bimini. Meanwhile, we watched while the radar showed a large blotch of green sprinkled with yellow, orange and red spots. Around 1800, the sun popped out, displaying a beautiful rainbow behind the boat. The wind finally switched more to the W and quieted down, making it easier to haul the dinghy back on deck. After dinner radar showed the possibility of another batch of showers during the night, but with luck, they'll miss us, giving us a quiet night before we depart.
Lynnea
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