Learning about the "velcro" part of Vero Beach

As I sit down to write this entry, I look back on an interesting and unexpected week here in Vero

Live oaks shade the streets

Beach, one that has increased our awareness of all that is available here. We've enjoyed regular walks in the neighborhoods near the marina. They are beautiful with a combination of southern and tropical vegetation. Live oaks are everywhere with their long, low branches providing shade to many yards. We also see lots of different palms as well as banyan, banana trees and many more we can't name. Lots of bushes are blooming now from hibiscus to jasmine. Even the mangroves are blooming. During our winters in Marathon the mangroves were everywhere, but we never saw them bloom. Just the wrong time of year.

loggerhead nest site

Beyond the neighborhoods is the beach. We've been swimming twice so far. The water is warm and the surf is up – great fun. Lots of people are at the beach, but since it goes for miles, there are no big crowds concentrating where we've been. But what was surprising we learned that it's not just people who use the beach here. This is a nesting sight for sea turtles. They come ashore at night from May till late summer. The last time we biked down to the beach, we saw a small area roped off – turtle nest – right near where people were sunning themselves. We've also noted the birds here. They

look big enough to be considered parrots, but they are a large species of parakeet. Apparently they are native to this area, but they've gotten loose or were released over the years and have been able to establish themselves. They help to give validity to the local promotion of the area as the beginning of the tropics.

bird of paradise

As those who know us realize, we are big on fresh fruits and vegetables. So we were pleased to learn of a farmers market every Saturday within walking distance...and it's advertised as being pet friendly. We went to it this past Saturday. It offered lots of good things and Maddie got to meet several dogs. I suspect we'll be weekly visitors to this.

It's also been a busy week visiting with others. This aspect began as we waited for the bus to take us to the grocery store. As we approached the stop, we noted a woman doing Tai Chi and then realized it was Kathy Duffy from Marathon. She and Steve had recently arrived and were headed off to a movie – the 3D version of the latest Star Trek saga. We decided to join them. A bit later in the week we were invited over to the home of former cruisers we'd first met in Virginia. Mac and Pat Rice have moved off the boat and are now members of CLODs (cruisers living on dirt) here in Vero. We had a great evening with them and look forward to more time together while we are here. Over the weekend, my sister Mary Jo and her husband Scott and son Toby came up for a picnic here – another great visit. They live in West Palm Beach, just 90 minutes south of here.

Of course our time isn't filled just with touring and visiting. Since we aren't taking the boat back to Virginia, those projects we had planned to address up there are now on our list for our time here. Fortunately, the engine's water pump issue should come to a successful conclusion sooner than expected. We learned last Friday that the pump that supposedly was in Japan in fact came from St. Petersburg, FL and arrive already. Unfortunately the gasket that is needed with the pump was in Japan, but is supposed to arrive early next week. Therefore we may have the engine back up to good working order by the time we drive north. The best part of all that is the fact that it appears that the fix will be covered under warranty.

We are finding that, with use and time, our boat parts continue to age and fail. We've got a list of items to replace or repair before we leave this spot sometime in the fall. Once we return late in the summer with our car, we'll have a bit more flexibility to get the last of the list addressed.

Finally, all should know that Sandra continues work on her baskets in spite of spending lots of time cleaning and preparing for our departure in a few days. Her latest result is below. She also continues to help others learn how to make the baskets. She seems to enjoy helping others as much as making them herself.

That's it for now. We'll continue to enjoy our time here as well the opportunity to meet fellow cruisers who stop in.

Carpe Diem

Captain Bob

Stuck in Velcro Beach

Well, how do I begin this entry? I guess it's about following plan C when plans A & B don't work out any longer. In our case, plan C is the result of a minor problem with our “new” engine. The fresh water pump which circulates coolant through the engine has begun to leak indicating that the bearings are worn. The pump needs to be replaced. We learned this while we were on a mooring at Vero Beach and about to leave to continue our northern travel.

The problem is that these pumps don't generally fail. So one question still to be answered is “why did it fail?” The practical situation related to this pump that never fails is that there are no replacement pumps available in this country. The engine is a Yanmar built in Japan, and the nearest replacement is also in Japan. The wait for a new one would be 2-3 weeks at best, perhaps longer. Our summer plans don't allow for us to stay here several weeks and still get north on time. Soooooo we put the boat in a slip here in Vero Beach where it will stay for the summer we'll go north via rental car early next month and then plan to return here in late August to deal with the issues.

We had talked about leaving the boat south at some point to avoid the long trek north, but we didn't imagine it would be this year and we hadn't considered Vero Beach, although it's a good place to spend time. Hence the nickname among cruisers of “Velcro Beach.”

We had spent a couple of days here already. The city runs a free bus service that stops at the marina and also a several shopping centers. We had used this to get our groceries and also took a morning to visit a local botanical garden. It was jungle-like in appearance but also boasted 50 varieties of water lilies, most of which were in bloom. The ocean beach is less than a mile away, so we walked there yesterday and enjoyed a swim in the waves. The water is near 80 degrees, so not difficult to get in. Now that we know we'll be here for a while, we looking into more of the local hotspots to explore. In spite of all plans, we can never say for sure that we'll have another opportunity here.

                              The botanical garden photos

When built, this was the largest bamboo structure in North America

While I had planned to continue blogging our travel, since we are no longer traveling up the ICW, my entries will be a little less frequent. We are still adjusting to the forced change in plans, but we are looking at it as a new and unexpected adventure that will offer good times that we have yet to learn about.

Till the next blog entry....Carpe Diem

Captain Bob

Leaving the Keys

As a slight change in approach to these blog entries, I thought over the next several days of travel I would share a few of the thoughts and concerns that we address as we travel. It is in this way that we might share a bit more of life on the ICW.

Well, the trip didn't start out quite as planned. We'd checked the weather reports from several sources. They all seemed in agreement that the winds would be out of the SE and blowing from 10 – 15 kts. This would give us wind to sail but not so much as to create uncomfortable waves. That way, the Hawk Channel up the ocean side wouldn't be too rolly. We woke up to winds blowing more like 15-20 with lots of it near the 20 level. That created steep, choppy waves from 2-4ft with several five footers in there. The result was that, even though we could sail and did, Sandra didn't feel good all day and Maddie was sick five times in the cockpit. She wasn't a happy camper at all. At this point I was concerned about our anchorage at Rodriguez Key. You see, there aren't any good anchorages along Hawk Channel for sailboats with a five foot keel or more. Rodriguez Key offers a bit of protection if the winds are out of the south or north. Winds coming due east aren't good. And that is what it appeared we might have. Then the forecast changed a bit with predictions of winds out of the SW at 5-10 kts. That looked good for anchoring on the north side.

By the time we got there, the winds were light and the water flat, so we had a pleasant evening which naturally included a swim in the clear water. The only negative moment came at about 3 in the morning when a fellow in a small fishing boat had music blaring and buzzed us and other anchored boats yelling crazy comments. We soon were back to sleep, though.

The forecast for the next day as we would move up to Key Biscayne was to include light winds becoming 10-15 out of the northeast by afternoon. That would mean we'd have winds right on the nose, so we decided to leave early, so we could make the 50 mile trip mostly during the morning when the winds were supposed to be light.

We were on our way by a little after 6:30AM, just before the sun rose for the day. It was beautiful. The

Sunrise on Hawk Channel

winds were light, so the water was flat. Nobody was getting seasick today. The water in the northern Keys along Hawk Channel was really clear. We watched the bottom 20 feet below us as we slid by. We also saw two manatees along our route and noted an interesting ring around the sun. I guess the humidity caused that – not really sure.

Again, so much for accurate weather forecasts. The winds never picked up much and none of it came from the NE. We anchored off of No Name Harbor for another quiet evening. We did get ashore and provided Maddie with a little exercise. And did I mention that we went for another swim?

Guess we're out of the Keys!

The forecast for Tuesday was more accurate. We were to get drier air and wind blowing 15 – 18 out of the NE. But by now we were on the ICW, so there was little wave action. Tidal current was more a factor as we planned to arrive at each of 10 bridges at the scheduled opening time. We were successful most of the time, but twice had to do circles in a tight area waiting for the next opening, usually a half hour later. In spite of those minor issues, we arrived at our anchorage in Lake Sylvia in Ft. Lauderdale by 2 PM. For those not familiar with Lake Sylvia, it's not really a lake. It's really just a wide area in the extensive canal system there. It provides a safe anchorage with views of multi-million dollar homes along the shore.

How's this for a humble winter cottage?

Because we got there so early, we decided to try a dinghy ride to someplace where we could get out and walk around a bit. We followed a route described in our guide that took us under a low bridge and along a couple of canals to a small restaurant at the end of a canal where, if we bought some food, we could tie the dinghy for free. The trip over to this spot included views of so many million dollar yachts and homes. I'm sure we saw at least 25 boats over 75 feet long – some over 150 feet. And this was on the short dinghy ride. As we traveled through Ft. Lauderdale the next day, we must have seen 100 or more such yachts.

We just had to duck a bit.

So much for our astonishment. We had a bite to eat outside on the restaurant's deck (Maddie was with us) and then went for a walk that took us to the largest West Marine store in the country. It's described as their flagship store. On the walk back as we waited to cross a street, a young woman stopped in her car to offer us a ride. We had met her first in Marathon three years ago, then again in Bimini and last in Miami a year and a half ago. She said she noticed a couple who looked like cruisers (we do seem to have a look) and then recognized Maddie. What a surprise and a welcome gesture!

Just a few of the many large yachts we saw, a couple of older ones, but most new.

After a quiet night, we headed out first thing the next day to deal with 19 more bridges most opening on a schedule designed for boats just a bit faster than ours. It was a long day, but otherwise uneventful, and we arrived in Lake Worth by Palm Beach by 6 PM. After a meal, we put on the TV to watch programs for the first time all winter. You see, we can't pick up any stations on our antenna from the Keys, so this was our first chance since heading down there in early December.

Today has another long day from Lake Worth to Vero Beach. We started even earlier – 6:15 AM – in order to be on time for the first of several more bridge openings. Once again the weather was great as were the views from the ICW of beautiful homes and lots of nature from dolphins, to osprey, pelicans and even a few frigate birds. By late morning we had dealt with our last scheduled bridge opening. We still had a couple more bridges to get openings from, but they were on request, meaning we didn't have to get there at a specific time. In fact, most of these bridge tenders (the official who runs the bridge opening) have the timing down so well that we never had to slow down. The only exception was by the Jupiter Inlet where the bridge wouldn't open at all till a technician performed some maintenance. We only had to wait a few minutes, though.

We finally arrived at the Vero Beach Marina about 5:30 PM. We'll spend a couple of days here restocking and enjoying the chance to get on land for some sightseeing and walking. This is a popular stop for many cruisers, due in part to the free bus service that takes you practically anywhere in town. It's so popular that it has the nickname of Velcro Beach, because cruisers just have a tough time leaving. In fact some cruisers don't leave. They stay long enough to sell their boats and move to dry land. They formed a group called CLODs (cruisers living on dirt) and still get together regularly.

OK, enough of this blog entry. It's time to get this posted. I'll just leave you with a couple of extra photos to let all know that Sandra is still busy making baskets even as we travel.

Carpe Diem

Captain Bob

It's time to leave Paradise and head north

Well in spite of my best intentions, it's been now a whole month since my last entry onto this blog. We have been busy, so I'll use that as the excuse.

Shortly after the last entry was posted, Samantha, Jeremy and family arrived for a two week stay. They had rented a house on a canal within view of our mooring. We went to Ft. Lauderdale to meet them and help transport the family back. They'd have needed a van because the boys each are young enough for a car seat, and three just don't fit in one seat. So we took the two oldest boys with us. First stop was Robert Is Here. It's a popular fruit and vegetable market with lots of tropical options to choose from. They also have lots of animals to see and a splash park for the kids. (Go to: http://www.robertishere.com/xcart/home.php to see all that is offered there.

From there we took the short drive to the Everglades National Park and a walk on a trail to lots of alligators. It was rather warm for our northern guests, so we didn't linger and continued south the Keys and their home for this vacation. During the next two weeks we managed to fill each day, and the older boys slept in the boat each night. We went to the beach on four occasions, went to a pool on four days, got down to Key West where we stopped at the Butterfly Conservatory and the aquarium. The kids got to the Turtle Hospital and the Dolphin Research Center twice. They managed to get in a handshake and up close meeting with dolphins while there. They also enjoyed another splash park. All in all, everyone seemed to have a great time. The two weeks ended all too quickly and it was time for another trip to Ft. Lauderdale and a plane flight for them.

Sam, Ryan, Chris and Nathan were busy at the beach.

The boys taking a break at the Butterfly Conservatory.

It's good luck if a butterfly lands on you. Sandra was having a really lucky day!

Chris was about to shake with a dolphin.

Mother and daughter were happy to be together.

We headed back for a few days before we too headed north – in the car to return it to Virginia. During the two day trip north, we managed to stop at a marina in Brunswick, Georgia to check it out. We expect the day will arrive when we won't want to make the trip all the way up to VA again, so we're looking for some place acceptable that is closer to the Keys. Brunswick is about the halfway point. People we've met here use that marina as summer base, hence our interest in checking it out.

We arrived in Virginia in time to take the car to the marina we plan use this summer for the boat – Salt Ponds. We hadn't been there for 17 years, so we wanted to check it out and leave the car. Jenn met us there and then took us back to her house for the night. After an all-too-short visit, she drove us to the airport in Richmond the next morning for our flight back to Florida where we rented a car for the final leg of the journey back to Marathon.

Since our return, we've prepared the boat and done the provisioning. Of course, since we are about to leave, problems arose. Our fresh water pump died; our outboard was running poorly, our toilet was backing up a bit and Sandra's bike got a flat tire. All this in addition to taking the dinghy to shore to clean the growth off the bottom and taking the big boat out to Coconut Key to clean its bottom. Boot Key Harbor is a fertile spot for algae and barnacle growth. I must hold my breath and dive down to either scrape or use a stiff brush. The result of this is that we'll travel a bit faster and use less fuel.With diesel fuel costing between four and five dollars a gallon, the fuel cost for the trip will be near $450 if we do well. It could end up costing an additional $200 with a dirty boat bottom, so I spend some time working on it. ( I know, you think this is a sailboat, so why all the fuel? Even for sailboats, most of this trip is done with the engine running, contrary to popular thinking.) We've also enjoyed some final social connections with cruisers and permanent residents who have become friends. One couple just arrived (Larry and Terri Howard). Another couple, Nicki and Franz on Skybird III were hoping to travel with us. (They have the identical boat to our Carpe Diem.) But time pressures forced them to leave before us.

All the above issues got resolved, and we are now anchored outside Boot Key Harbor ready to head up the Keys in the morning. We couldn't leave before now, because we had offered to help our local Tai Chi group put on an open house for new recruits. It went quite well today, with a number of new trainees ready to begin next week. We will miss our instructors Jeff and Susie along with Beth, Jack and a number of other participants, but we look forward to seeing them again upon our return.

So here we sit watching the sun get lower in a clear blue sky. The temperature is about 80 degrees, the breeze is light and the water is near the same temperature as the air. There are moments like this when we ask ourselves, why are we leaving this paradise? But we know we have things to do and people to visit north of here, and we also know that we plan to return in the fall. New adventures lie ahead for us, and we'll keep you abreast of most of them.