Journey's End, March 7-11, 2012

Continuing Vero Beach to Titusville - 3/7

You may remember our carefree attitude toward the weather during our last posting.  We did have fair winds and calm waters for most of the day but........when we reached the north end of Merritt Island we decided to continue onward to make it to Titusville before the end of the day.  So, under the Beachline bridge we went and within a mile we picked up the high winds and choppy water the weatherman had promised us.  We sloshed around for nearly two hours to make the seventeen mile trip - not as bad as St. Andrew's Sound at the end of our journey last year but exciting enough.  We were very glad to sail into Titusville City Marina and tie up for the night.  Our friend, Roger, stopped by there on his way home from work to say "hi" and "good-bye" and Marla and Al drove up for supper.  Thanks to all of you.  We've so much enjoyed our many chances to get together with you this winter. 

Titusville to Palm Coast - 3/8

Next day we headed out early before the winds picked up again and made it into Mosquito Lagoon with good weather.  We arrived at Hammock Beach Marina in Palm Coast after eight hours and tied up just as the winds began to pick up again.  Wayne is beginning to think that we can expect not-so-good weather on the water in Florida the first part of March.  I say two years does not a trend make but I may be changing my tune next year at this time.  Once the boat was secured in a slip, we contacted the rental car agency and arranged to pick up a car so we could travel to Fort Myers on Friday the 9th to pick up our own car.

The Daytona Bridge features mosaics of manatees and dolphins on
the columns.  I think it's the most beautiful bridge we encounter

Setting our ropes at Hammock Beach Marina - several times!

Palm Coast to Fort Myers and Back - 3/9

For some unknown reason the two of us found ourselves awake at 3:30 AM the next morning.  We lay in bed a while, trying to go back to sleep and, when that didn't work we said, "What the heck, let's head to Fort Myers."  By 8:15 AM we'd made the 246 mile trip.  We visited with friends on the dock and let the marina know the car was leaving.  We were back on the road by 9:00 and returned to the boat  around 2:00 - a total of 492 miles for the day.  After all our slow travel on the boat of the previous 3-and-a-half months, we were a little discombobulated at this point.

Cool Change settled into her new mooring

3/10

Saturday was pack and recovery day.  Pam and Richard, old friends from our Florida boating days, came to visit and brought lunch over (thank you, thank you!); I made one last trip to Publix and we began stuffing the car full of sewing supplies, clothes, tools, dirty laundry and the contents of the refrigerator.  We discovered an acquaintance from twenty years ago living near the marina we're in and had a wonderful last night meal with him and his wife and Pam and Richard.

Supper on shore with friends. - filet mignon, fingerling potatoes and fresh spinach.
 A fine way to end our trip.  No photo of the chocolate cake with
vanilla ice cream for dessert!  We gobbled it up too fast.

We're home now.  Even though we love settling back into our house just as spring has begun to bring green grass and flower blossoms to the Carolinas, it wasn't easy to leave Cool Change.  Wayne is a wonderful travel companion, adventuresome and fun to spend time with.  No more two minute showers for a while but also no more dolphins making graceful dives in front of our boat.  I'm very happy to see my dishwasher and my washing machine but I will surely miss watching the flight of birds near the water and the slow pace of life on the Intracoastal.  Until next winter............

Goodbye to serene blue waters, balmy weather,
puffy clouds and Florida's beautiful skies



The secret to a happy Colleen on a boat.  My sewing cabinet is well stocked
with the supplies I needed to finish two quilt tops, two baby quilts, four
table runners, and many gifts for family and friends along the way.

Stuart to Vero and Beyond - March 1-7

Stuart to Vero Beach

Sailfish fountain in downtown Stuart

After two nights in Stuart we traveled on to Vero Beach.  Remember that we’ve referred to Vero as Velcro Beach before?  It certainly lived up to its name this time.  High winds started soon after we arrived and kept us there from Friday until Wednesday, swinging violently on our mooring buoy.  The good part was that we got the chance to visit Howard and Donna, Wayne’s brother and his wife, and were introduced by them to another memorable delicious local restaurant, The  Pomodoro Grill.  Those Vero people do know how to eat!!  This morning we said, “To heck with the winds, we’re outta here” and at 7:15 we left the buoy to brave the fury of the gale and the wide, rough ICW.   At least, that was what the weather man had led us to expect.  So far, though, three-and-a-half hours into the trip we’ve not encountered anything the captain and her crew couldn’t handle.

The dinghy is an exact miniature copy of the big boat.

If Fort Myers is the City of Palms, Vero Beach is certainly the City
of Oak Trees.  This is one of many beautiful, old oaks in yards
and along the streets

Sunset at our anchorage at Vero Beach Marina

Yet More Boat Maintenance

While we were in Vero Wayne noticed a faint smell of diesel fuel in the cabin.  He searched all the possible sources and eventually decided it came from one of the boat's many inaccessible corners.  He had to squeeze behind the couch in the salon as he reached in to tighten the flange on the fuel tank gauge.  He has also diagnosed a water leak (Eeek!) under our bed right at our fresh water pump inlet.  It's just a slow leak (is there any such thing on a boat?) and he plans to cure it once we're settled at a dock.

The space was small but Wayne managed to squirm into it to tighten the fuel gauge.

Another Recipe
We had decided to fix breakfast after we left and ended up developing a tasty, quick-to-fix English muffin sandwich in the microwave as we traveled:

Easy Bacon-Egg-and-Cheese Breakfast

      1.     Toast an English muffin; spread both sides with butter and grape jelly.

2.     Use a fork to whip one egg in a narrow, glass or other microwave safe container.

3.     Sprinkle in salt and pepper.

4.     Drop a slice of Canadian bacon on top of the egg mixture

5.     Cover and microwave for one minute; check egg for doneness; add 15-20 seconds on low power as needed.

6.     Move egg and bacon onto one of the muffin halves; put cheese slice on top.

7.     Microwave briefly to melt the cheese and top with the other half of the muffin.

Today's Destination

Our plan today is to stop for the night either at Harbortown Marina on Merritt Island (where we stayed in December) or to go on to the Titusville marina, 16 miles further up the road.  From tonight’s stopping point we are only one or two days from what we plan to use as next year’s dockage, Palm Coast.  We’re not quite back in North Carolina, though.  In Palm Coast we’ll be renting a car to drive down to Fort Myers, pick up our car and then come back to pack up and head to Charlotte.  So far the mild winter has created an early spring in the Carolinas, leading to the early blooming of the redbud trees, tulips, daffodils, and Bradford pear trees.  Hope we catch the dogwoods.

We’ve been working on a few trip lists as we plow along through the water today.

Things We Will Miss After The Trip Ends:

1.     Florida sunsets and Florida clouds

2.     Wildlife – we saw our first sea turtle today and, of course, we’ve seen dolphins and alligators and all kinds of birds.

3.     Flowers in the winter

4.     Wearing shorts and short sleeved shirts

5.     Going barefoot all winter (this from the Florida cracker in the boat)

6.     Publix grocery stores

7.    The Unknown (occasionally accompanied by sheer panic and terror)

Pelicans - on land they always look clumsy and awkward; in flight
there is nothing so graceful as they skim along, their wide wings only
inches from the surface of the water.

A sailboat under sail.  Always a pretty sight on the water.

Things We Won't Miss After The Trip Ends:

1.     The price of diesel fuel

2.     Boat and marina shower accommodations and laundromats

3.     Ten hour days behind the wheel

4.     Pumping out holding tanks

5.     Hauling water in our four 5 gallon collapsible jugs @ 40 pounds apiece

6.     The Unknown (occasionally accompanied by sheer panic and terror)