Lake Worth to Cocoa

We left Lake Worth early the next morning. We could have gone out another day, but we turned left into the ICW, instead of going right out into the ocean. We had not planned an outside passage for this leg of the trip and weren't sure about the weather, so we stayed inside.

 I had forgotten how different it is to travel inside the ICW as opposed to traveling outside in the ocean. Now don't get me wrong, except for the very end of the trip to Lake Worth, we had good seas. But its just smoother in the ICW, unless a big, fast boat goes by and bounces you around. I noticed the smoothness when I went downstairs to fix our parfait with fruit for breakfast. It was easier to go down the stairs and I didn't have to hold on the stuff to keep my balance. It was so smooth that I did some housecleaning and cooking while we were underway. I picked up inside, vaccumed, made potato salad, and even worked on the blog while underway.

Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse. It looks just like it did last year.

We talked about all the places and houses we remembered from our previous trip by this area. Shay says we've been by these places several times now. On the trip north to take the boat home, then the trip south for the winter, and now for the return this year. Hey, we're not bragging, there are plenty of people that have done this trip dozens of times. Some people go up and down the coast every year. South to spend winter in the warm weather and then north to get away from the heat. Remember "south until the butter melts in the winter then north until it won't in the summer". Most people will admit its easier to get the butter to melt in the winter, that to stop it in the summer. You really have to go pretty far north to get to where its cool in the summer. Anyway we enjoyed seeing the sights again.

We pulled into the marina and moored about 4 pm. Shay said I was getting pretty good at grabbing dirty stinky mooring lines and tying them off. These are easier than some, you can just tie them off, not run another line thru them.

We had rinsed the boat last night while we were anchored, but decided to do it again since we could still see streaks of black dirt everywhere. How do you get black dirt on the boat when it hasn't been docked since around the first of November? I guess the wind blows the dirt and if we have any moisture on the boat it sticks and we get dirty. We did a pretty good job on the main deck, at least it looks some better.

After that Shay grilled his famous mesquite chicken and we had potato salad and hominy. It may sound like a strange combo, but we were hungry and it was good. We were tired and took our showers and settled down to watch tv. Shay said he was tired after 3 long days on the water. We forgot how tiring it can be, even if everything goes smooth.

Tuesday morning he was up bright and early to go to the lounge to talk with the other "boat guys". Remember he missed this group in Marathon, all he found were the "tree people" and they are not like the Vero "boat guys" at all. He met some that were here last year and some new ones. After breakfast, we got on the bus and went shopping. The bus system here is fantastic, it takes you all over town and for free. We didn't see all that many "locals" this trip it was mostly boaters on the buses we were on. You can tell boaters-- they have backpacks, have lots of provisions, usually some beer or wine, and just look "nautical".

We ate a big lunch at TooJays, a deli/restaurant/catering business near Publix. Shay had a combo plate with 3 meats--corned beef, roast beef, and brisket-- with slaw and potato salad. I had my usual burger. I don't know what's gotten into me, but I usually get a burger when we go out to eat. I bet I have eaten more burgers since moving onto the boat than I have in the past 10 years. I tried Shay's meats and they were all good.

Back to the boat to put up stuff and then couple from the boat next to us came to visit. They built their boat, took them 7 years, and now live on it. We hope to see theirs before we leave Vero. Then we had visitors from Mount Airy. Josh, Haley's boyfriend and Matthew, her cousin on her dad's side, are in Vero with Matthew's grandparents. They all came to the marina, but only Josh and Matthew came to the boat. The Barkman's had visited the boat when we were at the dock last year. Josh and Matthew were amazed. They had no idea what to expect and loved the boat. They kept asking questions. Matthew decided this was definitely something he wanted to do.


Josh is holding on like he thinks a wave is going ot throw him out of the seat. Remember the boat is tied to a mooring and isn't going anywhere.

  

Matthew looks like he sees something way off in the distance, maybe an uncharted island?


 Not sure what we'll do today, Wednesday. We plan on leaving tomorrow and need to check the weather to see if we go in or out. Decisions, decisions, decisions. We really like Vero Beach. It is a beautiful town, has a fantastic beach that we can walk or take the bus to. It is a hike but we need the exercise. We spent almost 2 weeks here last spring since Lauren came down for spring break, then a couple of days here going south last fall. It's sometimes called "Velcro Beach" cause some people have a hard time getting away.

Leaving Vero



Miss Ruby is a custom built boat. Wes and Jeanie visited our boat and we did theirs too.

We got up early and filled our water tanks and pumped out our waste and were on the way about 7:30. We had a good travel dayon the ICW--light winds and smooth water. We had breakfast and I put on a crockpot of chili beans for dinner.

This boat reminds me of our friends, Ken and Margaret's boat. It looks just like this one. We have talked to them several times on SSB, but miss them alot. Hope we see them this summer.

A beautiful house along the waterway



This is Riverdance. We met John and Connie along the waterway last year. We talked to them on the VHF last year, anchored near them several times, and finally met them face-to-face in Vero last year and here we all are again. We keep meeting friends again and again during our travels.

Tomorrow we will travel to Rockhouse Creek or if it is full, we will go on the Daytona and find a place.