November 30
Well, we arrived here with no departure date in mind, so I guess it's no surprise that we are still here! Everyone laughs (nervously!) when Vero is fondly referred to as "Velcro Beach", but it seems like most people we've met have hung out here much longer than they expected. But what's not to like ... it's inexpensive, free water, free bus and the beach is a 5-minute bike ride away.
There are a lot of boaters here waiting to cross to the Bahamas and the weather outlook hasn't been good. Today was predicted to be a one-day window to cross, and if not today, then check back in 10 days! So, even if we weren't passing time before our family Christmas gathering in Georgia, we'd still be waiting and waiting and waiting for weather. Welcome to boat life!
We've been spending our days working on boat projects (a never ending list) and exploring on shore. This is one of the first places where we've been able to keep our bikes on shore and do some extensive riding to the beach, park, hardware store (of course!).
Reinforced davits
Eventually we'll have two side-by-side panels
The Thanksgiving feast at Vero Beach was fabulous! Tables upon tables of delicious food, lots of good company and even some live music. And speaking of good company, we had a surprise visit from Kate Taylor, Dan's coworker, and her husband, Dan. Kate's parents live in FL, and we've had two near misses when we were almost in the same location together. This time, they were in Cocoa Beach with a rented car, so they drove down to Vero to see us. Nothing beats a familiar face!
Welcome aboard Kate and Dan!
Every day there are boats coming and going from the anchorage... and some days are definitely more crowded than others. It makes the trip to the boathouse entertaining b/c there are always new faces. Yesterday, we meet Tony and Marsha (s/v Topaz) who moved aboard their boat this year and took off from New York to spend the winter in Stuart, FL. After spending most of their time cruising in Long Island Sound, coming down the ICW was quite an experience for them, and we enjoyed the camaraderie of sharing "how I ran aground" stories! They won b/c they arrived at Vero Beach after dark, ran around at the tricky turn into the anchorage and had to spend the night anchored in the ICW.
3 boats rafted to one mooring.
Our "mooring mates", Ed and Karin on s/v Passages
Ed and Karin are leaving today for Ft Pierce. We now have the mooring to ourselves!
Ed and Karin are the first people we have ever rafted with, and they definitely made it a pleasant experience. They have been on their beautiful Island Packet 40 for 12 years, and the boat still looks brand new. Ed was a wealth of information and supplied Dan with the tools he needed to adjust the rigging for our sails. Karin is one of those excellent boat cooks that you love to hate! They had us over for corned beef and cabbage (cooked in the pressure cooker), and she makes her own cheese spreads from scratch! We'll miss having happy hour with them, along with the spontaneous conversations you can have when the boat cockpits are only a few feet apart! They will be staying in Ft Pierce thru the end of the year, and we are torn between moving our boat to Ft Pierce as well (even though it's only 20 miles away) or continuing to move south towards Miami. At Ft Pierce, we could leave Maja in a slip, hooked up to electricity, while we are gone to Georgia for Christmas. We'd be back around the same time that Ed and Karin plan to head for the Bahamas, so there's a chance we could cross together. We shall see.
Thunderheads on the horizon
Cold fronts have been moving through and the temps have dropped into the 40s at night. It's not too cold for sleeping, but it sure makes it hard to crawl out of a warm bed in the morning. The local scuttlebutt is that because this summer had a higher than average number of tropical storms and hurricanes, winter in the Bahamas is expected to be stormy as well. Sure hate to hear that after the terrific weather we had there last year.
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