Vero Beach

Weather: Temperature range 66 to 82 degrees; overcast in the morning giving way to partly sunny and then mostly sunny by afternoon; winds were out of the north @ five knots the ICW waters were flat calm.

Comment:
This is a great day for traveling. The overcast sky means that we won’t be looking directly into the golden path of the morning sun. At this time of the year, it’s always nice to leave a bit later. It gives the sun a chance to get higher in the sky which is easier on our eyes. Today, we broke our raft with “Tally Ho” and were underway 0800. We rafted for the first time in a very long time; our last time was probably a decade and a half ago when we used to tie our Tanzer 26 “Sea Quester” to the stern of George and Pat Henkel’s Tartan 27, “Goose I.” We had great times exploring Barnegat Bay in those days.

Speaking of Pat and George, we are looking forward to spending some time with them. They winter in a campground in Sebastian, a mainland community not too far from Vero Beach.

There were plenty of dolphins playing in the Indian River today. We probably saw hundreds of them over the course of our 39 mile run. We also saw five sky divers and shortly after they landed, we heard a frantic call that one had landed in the water just off of Hiram’s Marina. We kept a close watch, but didn’t see anyone. After about ten minutes, a happy sky diver reported that the errant diver was found.

We also made radio contact with friends aboard "Hielan' Lass II." I worked with the Captain John for twenty years and we have shared many sailing adventures. It was great to hear him and we’re happy to hear that he and his wife are doing the trip. It’s pretty impressive because John is still gainfully employed on a full time basis. With judicious use of accumulated vacation time and holidays, they are able to do the trip in segments with some trips back to the job in PA.

We pulled into the mooring field at Vero Beach at 1340 hours. We were promptly notified of a gam and cocktail party planned for 1630 hours on the marina grounds. We met some interesting characters to be sure. Many of these folks are heavy duty cruisers, some full timers, who have done the islands frequently. I talked to more than one about the trip. I’m getting increasingly interested in making the trip, but Anna Marie is still hesitant.

We bid a fond farewell to Larry and Fran (“Kallista”). They will leave the marina at 0900 and will reach Fort Pierce, their final destination tomorrow afternoon. It was a sad farewell. They are the second of the “Flock” to leave. Dave, of “Canvasback Too” stayed behind in Oriental. I think we all thought that he would catch up, but we last heard that he was in Brunswick, GA for a few days. We all wished Larry and Fran safe travels and hope they enjoy the holiday season with their family. We will miss them!

We returned to the boat just in time to view a beautiful sunset and relax in the cockpit for a while. Tomorrow, we'll tend to some boat chores.