Merritt Island to Vero Beach - Jan 3-Jan. 11, 2013

From Merritt Island to Vero Beach

We're on the road again - so to speak.  We left Harbortown Marina on January 6th, holding tanks pumped out, water tanks full, refrigerator stocked, one hundred gallons of fuel added and happy to be back on the water.

Our departure was delayed again this year by unfavorable weather.
We didn't pull away from the dock until the fog lifted about 10AM
 

 

Looking at the bridge on the Canaveral Barge Canal as we left Harbortown Marina

Passing under the bridge leading to Patrick AFB - NASA tracking and recovery station



Colleen napping under the comfy cabana/ocean/palm trees quilt she sewed on the boat last year.

We spent a leisurely two days to travel the fifty-five water miles from Merritt Island to Vero Beach with fantastic clouds, a beautiful sunset, lots of bird and dolphin sightings and even an encounter with some sailboats that were actually under sail. The night of the 6th found us at Marker 21, a spoil island along the ICW and the destination for many family boating trips in the past when we lived in FL and traveled with the Central FL Cruise Club.  More than thirty years ago our three boys fished, explored the island, dug in the sand and swam here.  Storms and hurricanes have whittled away at the island but it's still a pretty spot and provides a welcome shelter from winds as we anchored on its southerly side.
It did not quite work out as we planned though.  The winds were forecast to be from the NW overnight and we anchored for that.  However the winds came out of the NE and we moved constantly all night in the wind and waves.  We have learned to rest easy in such weather, though, once we're assured that the anchor is holding so we both got a good night's sleep.




Beautiful Clouds



and more clouds



More clouds



A sailboat race was proceeding right down the middle of the channel



We had to pass through this regatta

It is difficult to catch a photo of a dolphin jumping - 3 years and still no success.
This is a dolphin fin.  We're at the stage now that we just try to enjoy seeing them
and rarely try for a photo.  We do see a lot of them.

Colleen on sandbar of Marker 21 Island

The island in late afternoon before the winds came in



Sunset at the island from our anchor position for the night



Shot of our GPS chart plotter as we approached Vero Beach mooring field.  Our course would take us
 up to the red bridge then a LH turn along the bridge and a turn down and behind the skinny green peninsula shown here. 

Monday the 7th we arrived at the Vero Beach City Marina.  We had hoped to find a spot on the city docks but were informed that they were full for long term boaters so we hooked a buoy (Colleen's easiest snagging yet!!) and are happily settled in for as long as we decide to stay.  The weather is almost too warm (Colleen speaking here).  Wayne loves it.

This was the 7 day forecast last week.  We would show you the one
for the upcoming week, but it looks just the same!

 Two days ago Wayne hitched a ride with his brother back to Merritt Island and brought our car down here so we can dinghy to shore whenever we want and explore the area some more.  So far we've found a trio of musicians jamming in the shade of the marina and a group of ladies who carry a card table out under the trees to play mahjong on a regular basis.  It's a busy community.

We enjoyed listening and talking with the jammers under the gazebo.

Repairs

Let me introduce you to my new best friend - plastic disposable gloves. 

These are great.  Almost the same feel as bare hands.  I might go through 3 to 5 pair on one job
 depending on what I get on my hands or what I don't want to touch with what is on the gloves.
A box of 100 costs about $7.00.

Note the round pieces.  They are the bottoms of the strainer baskets
and they are no longer attached to the strainer tube, rendering the strainer ineffective.

The only significant repair completed since the last blog was the replacement of the strainer baskets in the sea strainers that keep debris from entering the engine water supply pump and getting into the heat exchanger (radiator on a boat engine).  When I replaced the raw water impeller, shown in a previous blog, I discovered that the stainless steel basket in the sea strainer was rusted and that the bronze bottom had come disconnected from the basket cylinder.  Yes, stainless steel does rust away!  I ordered two plastic baskets to replace both engine strainer baskets.  As you can see in the photo above, the second basket fell apart when I placed it on the table and touched it again. Not good.  Both are updated and replaced now.

And now to our next anchorage

After being unable to get dock space at the Vero Beach City Marina, Wayne did a little research looking for other possible marinas in town.  He found one called Loggerhead Marina, in a gated community in mainland Vero.  It looked pretty luxurious.  We did the math, factoring in the mooring ball rent for a month, dinghy gas and fuel to run the generator for several hours a day to keep us powered up.  The result was that, for about $100 more, we can stay in the marina.  Even though we miss having open water nearby, the tradeoff is easy access to shore, unlimited water and electricity, more opportunity to meet and get to know new people and the chance for friends and relatives to visit us here. We concluded that living in the marina is a vacation while living at anchor or on a buoy is an adventure.  We'll take a mix of both on this trip.

 If you're coming to visit or want to send us fuel and dockage money, here's our new address -
Slip # A-41, Loggerhead Club and Marina, 1221 Marina Village Circle, Vero Beach, FL  32967