Thursday, March 14, 2013 – Vero Beach to Cocoa Village Marina:

            Here are my words of wisdom for the day – Never swear you are never going to do something, and never say never – ever! 

            We knew we needed to get a rather early start this morning so at 0 dark thirty, we started stirring.  I was glad the slip next to us was still empty as it would make getting our of our slip less hectic – but, no – the minute I got my eyes really open, I hear the sound of a “small” sport fisherman pulling in next to us.  Yikes!  What’s he doing coming in at 6:30 a.m.?!  Oh well, that was the first indication that the day might not be perfect.  As I put my feet on the floor, I realized not only was it still dark, but it was also cold and windy.  So I put on a turtleneck, sweatshirt, socks, and long pants and found my jacket.  Where is Florida?  I’ve been here for months, and it seems like most of the weather has not been so much on the warm side!

            After breakfast we made motions of getting ready to leave, and the cat headed for “under the covers.”  I thought we were going to stay right where we were if the weather was not nice, but here we are – getting ready to go.  It was really blowing, but with the help of our Grand Banks neighbor, we got off fine and headed north to Dragon Point (at least that’s where we had planned to go). 

            It was cold as I coiled up the lines and stowed them neatly away, which is usually my job.  I was glad to get up on the fly bridge once I had everything put away.  The sky is crystal clear, but the water is choppy with a few whitecaps here and there.  Two die-hard jet skiers passed us, and they must have been really dedicated because they looked like they were dressed for an artic expedition, and I thought they should have had snowmobiles instead of jet skies! 

            The waterway winds through mangrove islands, Johns Island, Barker Island, and Pine Island to name a few – many don’t seem to have any names, but I’m sure someone named them!  We pass by Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge, which if you had a small boat might be fun to explore. 

            Eventually, the waterway gets bordered on one side by expensive, well-manicured residences, and the uninhabited mangrove islands on the other side.  The water is getting choppier and the wind is picking up even more.   As a matter of fact, it is starting to “blow like stink.”  I want to say it was a miserable ride, but it could have been worse – it could have been raining!  So I guess I won’t complain too loud.

Someone's idea of a joke?  A stop sign in the middle of the waterway!

We were following another trawler, and we had the same problem that we had when we followed the barge the other day – the boat in front of us was stirring up the bottom, and occasionally the depth sounder would go off as flotsam and jetsam clogged its vision!  That is always a very disconcerting event!

            Surprisingly, even though it was choppy, we made really good time, and we got to Dragon Point before noon.  So Bob says to me what would I think of going on to Cocoa which was just a short way further, and, even though I remembered how “hairy” it was getting into Cocoa the last time with the wind blowing like crazy, and that I swore I would never, ever, go back into Cocoa Village Marina with the wind blowing like stink, I said that I thought it would be great if we could go on and get settled in to Cocoa and not have to wait another day.  So Bob called the marina, and they said we could come on.  I must admit I was thinking that I really wished the wind would die down a little to make it easier to get in there.  It also didn’t help that I heard another boater call the marina concerned about getting into his slip because of the wind.  But on we went, and as we got closer we waited our turn out by the entrance to the channel while two other boats went in ahead of us. 

            This, however, did give me plenty of time to get the lines and fenders ready because I knew we would have to act pretty lively getting the boat tied up in the slip.  What I should have realized was that the wind was coming from the north and the minute we turned west into the channel the waves were hitting us broadside and the boat was rocking around to the point that something in me said, “Hey, stupid, this isn’t any fun, and would you like to throw up?”  It was actually so rough, I thought that if I really wanted to, I could fall overboard without too much thought.  So I started really thinking about it, and holding on to the railings a little tighter as I moved around the decks.  So by the time we finished tying up, and I brought all the stuff inside from up on the fly bridge, and fed the cat, I decided to lie down for a few minutes until my head stopped giving me ill feelings.

            I actually think that Kitty Cat might recognize where we are.  As soon as she had her “lunch,” she started leaping from window to window with a look like she might remember these surroundings.  I mean we did spend over two months here, so who knows?

            Just to let you all know, the boat-munching shrimp have hungrily returned.  I think we lost most of them somewhere around Lake Okeechobee or so it seemed; but they have since returned – and they brought along some strange friend with them.  The last few nights we have heard this staccato tapping noise under the boat moving from side to side sort of like some animal banging its pointed nose on the underside of the boat.  So now we have snap, crackle, and pop from the shrimp, and tap, tap, tap, from who knows what.  It’s a wonder we get any sleep at all.  I think the hull is starting to get thinner…  

All settled in again in Cocoa