Thursday, January 31, 2013 – Vero Beach:

            Yikes! What happened to our weather?! We “sailed” in here yesterday under a somewhat cloudless sky (cloudy in the morning but clearing up as the day wore on) and the temperature feeling like it was 85 degrees and hot.  But in the middle of the night, we were awakened by howling wind and rain pelting the boat.  So we scrambled up and hurriedly went around and closed all the portholes, and I tried to convince myself that this was just a gentle patter of rain that would be nice to fall back asleep to.  We woke up this morning to cold and more rain; the temperature feeling like it had dropped 30 degrees.  It is 58° right now at 9:30 a.m.

            Kitty cat thinks that since we seem to be on the move again, she wants the bed made right away so she can dive under the covers before the engines turn over, and she yowls at us if we don’t make the bed immediately after she has had breakfast.  Well, I told her that we were going to have breakfast first since we weren’t going anywhere today, and since it was such a “yucky” morning, I decided it was a perfect day to make bacon and eggs.  I think she got the idea that the boat would be stationary for the day because she decided to do a deck walk since she wasn’t going to get her way about the bed. 

            The microwave repairman called us back this morning, and he is coming to look at our microwave tomorrow, hopefully in the morning, so we don’t have to waste the day hanging around playing the waiting game.

            Sometime during the middle of the morning some friends called who were driving down to Key West.  They happened to know we were in Vero Beach and they suggested we look up some live-aboards who they had met on their last visit here.  It just so happened that these people were tied up in a slip at the same dock where we were, and they were on board, so we stopped and chatted with them for awhile on our way to lunch.

            We waited for the weather to warm up which it did, and we walked around to the Riverside Grill which is just a short ways from the marina.  It’s a real sports bar with about 30 TVs (I’m not kidding – maybe more) covering the inside walls.  We really want to watch the Super Bowl this Sunday (c’mom, the Ravens are playing!), and we can’t get the local channels here on our boat.  We have DirecTV, and pay and arm and a leg to watch worthless television, but because of some stupid FCC regulation we can’t get the local channels.  We have begged, pleaded and threatened letters to the government, but since the government is controlling this, we aren’t having any luck.  There is a TV in the “boaters’ lounge”, but it is about the size of a frying pan, and has been attached to the wall near the ceiling.  I think my grandparents had a larger TV when I was little!  Well, anyway, as we were having lunch at this restaurant, I decided to ask what time we should arrive if we wanted to watch the Super Bowl.  The nice waitress told us to check with the seating hostess because she normally didn’t work on Sunday, and wasn’t really sure what to tell us.   So I found the seating hostess, and she told me that we would be strongly advised to make reservations as that’s what most people were doing, and they were almost booked up!  So I said we would definitely like to do that.  So she looks through her book, and tells us sadly that the only table for two is the one where we are sitting, and would we like that one.  WOULD WE LIKE THAT ONE??!!  YES!!  As it is surrounded by about 20 TVs and I am already thinking of the great junk food and beer we can consume amongst 50 million screaming people who are, hopefully, all Raven’s fans as we are on the east coast!  This will certainly beat getting a stiff neck while staring at the ceiling in the boaters’ lounge stuffed in like probable sardines!

            Bob has reserved a rental car for the weekend also, as Enterprise offers these great deals on the weekend, so we can explore the area, and drive to the restaurant.  I wasn’t really looking forward to walking back to the boat at 10:00 p.m. or so in the pitch black dark.  So I’m thinking this is going to be a great stopping point on our journey south!

            Back to the boat after lunch (which was really dinner as they give you enough food to feed an army) for some serious card playing, reading, and possibly a nap.  Dinner tonight will be some left over spaghetti if we ever get hungry again.

            This afternoon Bob worked on our cruise itinerary.  We are in a quandary as to whether to go to the Keys or to try and head across Lake Okeechobee.  There seems to be some potential bridge work that may hamper our plans to cross the lake, but Bob is researching this.  So our final destination is still up in the air!

            I can’t believe where the days go.  It is already 6:30 p.m., and I have no idea where the day went.  I guess that’s a good sign – must mean we ‘re having fun!

Finishing his meal

Pelicans sunning themselves on the dock

Bird looking for a meal

Riverside Grill where we'll go for the Super Bowl

Wednesday, January 30, 2013 – Vero Beach City Marina (Mile 952):

            It was pretty windy this morning, and I thought it was going to be more of a challenge than it really was getting out of the slip and on our way, but the marina dock guy helped us get off and we left Telemar Marina around 9:45 a.m.

            We had a lovely dinner with our Grand Banks friends last night who were also staying at Telemar, and they gave us some great information about crossing Lake Okeechobee and places to visit on the West Coast of Florida.  They also gave us some great places to anchor on our way back home instead of staying in marinas.  We really enjoy anchoring out, and will try to do more of that when we head back north.

            So we left the Banana River, rounded Dragon Point, and turned left in the Indian River and under the Eau Gallie Bridge, then under the Melbourne Bridge.  It was really windy, and there were whitecaps, but the water was really not too choppy until the afternoon.  At R20 you really run out of water and must stay in a very narrow, but well-marked channel.  The landscape looks more like something you would see in the Thousand Islands in Canada instead of Florida.  There are little tiny islands all over the place, but you better not stray out of the channel as it meanders around the little islands.

            One sailboat who did happen to wander out was really hard aground and heeling over.  It did have an anchor out, but it didn’t look like anyone was aboard.  I have no idea how that boat will ever get back in the water!

            We actually caught a glimpse of turquoise water today.  Unfortunately, we weren’t in it ourselves, but we could see it in the distance or certainly what looked like turquoise water!  Another interesting sight happened to be a wedding photographer taking pictures of a bride who had climbed up on a dead tree on one of the islands.  We didn’t see a groom, but got to thinking maybe the photographer was really the groom.   We tooted our horn at them, and then were thankful we didn’t scare the bride and have her fall out of the tree.  She looked rather precarious on her perch!

            We saw our share of dolphins and a couple of eagles but not much else in the way of wildlife other than the normal pelicans and other sea birds always flying around.

            At about 2:30 we rounded G139 just before the Wabasso Bridge and into the marina here.  It’s a city marina, and the facilities are not as nice as the privately owned marinas such as Cocoa Village, but we are pretty close to the town, which is supposed to be very nice.  There are a lot of boats in here including many boats out on a mooring, and some of those boats are actually doubled up.

            Kitty cat still seems pretty content, and as a matter of fact is outside now wandering the deck.  Actually, last night, she decided to be quite friendly and let our guest pet her!  I was shocked!

            We are trying to get a repairman to come out to the boat and replace the display in our microwave oven, which has become unreadable.  This seems to be a bit of a challenge, because they can’t come to the marina until their insurance company faxes all the appropriate insurance information paper work to allow the repairman to enter the marina grounds.  Hopefully, we will get a call from them tomorrow saying all is good to go and they can come and fix the microwave.   The bureaucracy is a bit frustrating, but I remain hopeful.  As we will be here for a few days we plan on exploring the town tomorrow.  All in all, it was an uneventful day – and I am always thankful for uneventful days.

Cruise planning and dinner with a friend

Dragon Point (what's left of the dragon)

Bride in a tree

Tuesday, January 29, 2013 – Telemar Bay Marina, Indian Harbor Beach (Mile 915):

            I woke up this morning humming the words to Willie Nelson’s “On the Road Again.”  It is a beautiful morning, and we are outta here!! Not that I haven’t loved being at this marina – it was great – but it was time to go!  We walked around and said “good-buy” to the live-aboards we had made friends with, and said we would look forward to seeing them again in March when we return. 

            Kitty cat knows something is up.  As soon as she saw the charts and the boat bag stuffed with flybridge gear come out, she headed for cover – under our covers!

            All systems started up just fine, with the exception of the depth sounder, which offered the first potential challenge of the day.  We figured it out soon enough though as we had forgotten that we needed to turn the darn thing on down below before the one up on the flybridge would work properly.  Oh yeah – there’s two systems for everything and you better make sure they all work in their proper order or no go!

            As is my nature, I think about biting my nails as we prepare to “cast-off” as the memory of our wild entrance into Cocoa is still fresh in my mind.  But not to worry – the water is calm and there is barely a breeze.  It is still a tight maneuver to wind our way out of here, but we make our escape without a hitch. 

            So as we leave the entrance channel we turn right and head south on down the Indian River.  We only have about 20 miles to go today.  We decided not to go too far the first day, and use this day as sort of a “shake-down cruise” day.  This is a nice stretch of river, plenty of water, and nice houses lining the shoreline.  We discover that the auto-pilot on the flybridge is refusing to work.  We can make it work down below, but not from where we like to drive.  I guess we’ll figure this out after awhile, too.  We go under the Pine Shores Pineda Causeway Bridge, and the wind starts to pick up and there are some black clouds overhead, but nothing to worry about.  Just before the Eau Gallie Bridge, we hang a left by Dragon Point to enter the Banana River and the marina is just a little farther on.

            Dragon Point got its name from this giant metal dragon that adorned the point years ago, but has since deteriorated into a metal heap on the rocks.

            We arrive at the marina, but no answer on the radio or the phone!  Finally, as we are circling around wondering what to do, the nice marina manager comes running down to the dock apologizing as he was by himself and had just come back from lunch.  No problem, and we get the slip right by where we are waiting and he helps us tie up.

            Lucy cat must be seriously turning into a boat cat, because as soon as the engines stopped she came right up and decided to go exploring around the deck to check out the new sites!

            It just so happens that another boat is here that is also a member of the Chesapeake Bay Grand Banks Owner’s Association, and we look them up, and spend a pleasant afternoon on their boat, and then invite them over to our boat for dinner.  We heard that there was a little market selling fresh vegetables and fruit, so we took a walk over to check it out, but, unfortunately, it was closed.  So dinner will be spaghetti with doctored up sauce from a jar, sort of a salad, and lots of red wine!  But hey, that’s boating!

            As I sit here and write this, pelicans are diving, the dolphins are swimming around, a sculling crew is rowing out into the river, and the temperature is pleasantly warm.  Tomorrow, we plan to head for Vero Beach weather permitting.  The wind is coming up now, but tomorrow may be ok.  It is good to be on the go again and see new sites!

Interesting falling-down house

Rowing Crew by our slip

Monday, January 28, 2013 (Cocoa – maybe our last day?)

            At least it will be unless the wind is howling tomorrow!  The weatherman has predicted much like it is today, partly cloudy, slight breeze (Bob says 10 knots from the E/SE).  It better not be more than that, but we are planning to leave bright and early even though we don’t have too far to go – only about 20 miles.  Don’t want to venture too far out on the first day!!  That should take us about two hours to get to our next stop – Telemar Bay Marina near Melbourne (Indian Harbor Beach).

            We got an e-mail from another member of the Grand Banks association we belong to that their boat is at Telemar Marina, so we are hoping to catch up with them.

            The weather was nice today, but cloudy, and since I am still trying to shake off the dregs of this cold (or whatever mysterious illness I had) I decided to goof off today, so hopefully, I will feel like my old self tomorrow in preparation of facing the Sea Gods again.

            Lucy doesn’t know what’s in store for her.  She has gotten pretty comfortable at this stopover.  She still hasn’t made it up to the flybridge, but she does wander around the deck even in the daytime now.  The man who owns the sailboat next door was puttering around on his boat today, and he told Bob he was interested in looking at trawlers, so, of course, Bob offered to show him around ours.  Well, Lucy did not do her normal run and hide routine as he came aboard.  As a matter of fact, she just looked at him with this look of, “Just don’t disturb me.”  However, I think it will be a different story when the engines start up tomorrow.

            We have all our paraphernalia ready to go up top with us, and, hopefully, getting out of here won’t be as challenging as getting in here was!  That was a memory! 

            As Bob was showing the next door neighbor around I was staring out over the water, and saw something rather large swimming around.  I don’t think it was a dolphin, but I can’t swear it was a manatee either.  I’ll start keeping my eyes peeled again for more interesting sea life as we head out.  There was a huge pelican that swam by our boat, and because I always have my camera at the ready (NOT!), I missed getting the picture.  I’ll try to be more prepared in the future.

            That’s it for tonight, folks.  We are going to walk into town and get a pizza for our “last meal” – after tonight, I guess I will have to start working on our freezer supply!

            OK, folks – more tomorrow! 

Sunday, January 27, 2013 (Cocoa – yawn….):

            No yawn…just kidding!  I hate to keep saying we woke up to a beautiful, warm, sunny day…but we did!  I feel so bad for all our friends and relatives up north and out in the Midwest, but the weather here is really, really nice!  Actually, I just don’t see how it could get much better – it’s almost perfect.

            So after breakfast, we did a couple of boat putterings around and then piled in the car and drove over to Cocoa Beach.  I really didn’t hold out much hope for this little town – it’s kind of honky tonk with a couple of “adult” entertainment stores (what a way to ruin a place), restaurants that looked like we didn’t want to try them out, and the main drag looks just like any other main drag in the US with lots of car dealerships, Joe’s Automotive Shops, Good Used Cars Sold Here places and various and sundry other dive, surf shops, etc.  But, if you get off the main drag and turn down the road that follows the ocean, the area is well maintained with in-roads that offer convenient public parking for the beach.  You just have to walk over the new boardwalk over the dune and there you are!  Which we did, and it was beautiful!  Nice, sandy beach, not crowded, just enough people to make it interesting, with the usual flocks of seagulls, pelicans, and other little birds pecking in the sand and skittering away as we walked along.  The most surprising thing to me was that the water was WARM!  No kidding, we could have gone swimming!  We really had no idea how nice it would be so we didn’t come prepared to do anything except walk on the beach, but we both remarked to each other that we should have packed a picnic lunch and brought an umbrella and a couple of beach chairs and our books.  This was Bob, actually, saying this, so you know it was really nice!

            After we walked and annoyed the birds, we were hungry so we decided to go back to the boat and have lunch.  We drove around first and actually found ourselves at the Port Canaveral Cruise terminal where Disney, Royal Caribbean, and Carnival were tied up.  I’m not sure exactly what the attraction would be for a cruise ship stop unless it’s the Space Center, but the terminal seemed to be a busy place.  But then we headed back to the boat and spent the afternoon contemplating the next leg of our trip.  We still can’t decide exactly where to wind up, so I think the thing to do is just let the weather decide where we are going to go and what we are going to do.

            Well, since it’s January, it only seems right to watch ice skating on TV, so since the sun has left our flybridge for the day, we will pretend that it’s cold outside and watch the men’s U.S. competition.

            Tomorrow will be spent getting ready to mosey on down the ICW, so I will probably start to have a little more interesting stories to relate again.  This has been a nice place to pass the past two months, and we will return here again in March.  Well, more later…

On the beach

The water is WARM!

Pelican posing

Cocoa Beach