We're on a shakedown cruise that will take us from St. Augustine Florida south to Vero Beach. We've been to Vero Beach before and like the City Marina atmosphere. It is in close proximity (walking distance) to the beach.
Part of our decision to come here was to hide from thunderstorms and wind that was forecasted for the next few days.. We knew we'd be protected in the harbor at Vero. The storms ended up missing us but we got quite a bit of wind. Mystic was rafted up to another sailboat, My Dream. The two boats swung this way and that on the mooring ball all weekend.
Our wind scoop creates air flow that pushes the cool air through our forward hatch and into our cabin. It's like air conditioning (almost). We have our sun awning up too. Dave is trying out new garden stakes which tension the awning over our boom. This keeps the awning from flapping in the wind and makes it easier to get under the awning when we board
Mystic. Unfortunately, the middle stake popped out during a big wind episode overnight. We notice it in the morning. We've lost our share of awning poles overboard. Dave continues to come up with new ways to keep them from falling out. This time he drilled holes in the ends of the remaining two stakes. We added ties to the stakes and the awning so that the stakes are attached. There's no way we'll lose them now!
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| Mystic in mooring field |
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| Mystic and My Dream rafted on ball |
Dolphin and manatee are abundant in the bay. We spend a lot of time watching their antics. There is one distinct dolphin that visits daily. He is identifiable because he has lost his dorsal fin. He cruises back and forth in front of the sea wall, successfully fishing. We never managed to capture a photo but we saw him on the ICW on our way back north. Apparently his stomping grounds are wide. He was quite a way outside the bay area.
In Vero we had our first opportunity to get our new 10 foot dinghy and e-propulsion motor out. We were able to inflate it and add the dinghy chaps on our deck. We launched it over the side using lines tied to the bow and two side handles creating a triangle. We attached the center where the lines meet to our spinnaker halyard and raised the dinghy over our lifelines and carefully lowered it into the water. This worked quite well!
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Dinghy tucked between
My Dream and Mystic |
The electric motor is light. I can pass it to Dave on the dinghy in two pieces, the motor and then the battery. Each weigh about 20 pounds. We purchased this motor because I can set it up on my own if I have to. Dave rigged a cooler with a lock and chain. It sits in front of the motor and holds all our gear when we go ashore. We lock the motor and cooler to the dinghy. It is a simple safety measure and we gain piece of mind. Vero has a big dinghy dock. We made many trips back and forth while we are in town.
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| Epropulsion Spirit 1.0 |
Vero has a free shuttle service that goes all around town. We prefer to walk most everywhere and manage to rack up almost 20 miles in three days. We met locals this way; many out walking their dogs. We miss our pets back home in Minnesota so greeting pets that we meet is a treat. We did take a ride on the shuttle that comes by the marina, just to see where it went. It was an interesting ride that stops at the local Publix. If you time your shopping right, you can be waiting for the bus on it's return trip. This is a city-wide shuttle service and is very convenient!
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We met up this little sweetheart on every
morning walk. She's part chihuahua,
part Australian sheepdog |
Vero has a fabulous farmer's market down by the beach. We scored big time with our purchase of 6 tomatoes, 3 limes, 2 lemons, 4 sweet peppers, a head of purple cabbage, 2 cucumbers, 2 apples and an onion for $11.00. We walked from the marina to the market with a German couple off another sailboat. They had just returned from the Bahamas and were looking for berries. They were not disappointed!
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| Farmer's Market Score |
We like to take different routes on our walks in order to see more of the town. Coming back from the farmer's market we stumbled upon an orchid festival. The plants were A-mazing!!! We noticed that homeowners have orchids growing everywhere in Vero .
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| Beautiful live oak lined street in Vero |
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| Orchid's planted in a live oak |
We spent one morning at the beach. The water was warm but the waves were brutal, knocking us over again and again. There is a park with bathrooms and a playscape for kids. In a far corner we found a butterfly chair which makes us think of our butterfly baby Avery May Silva. Avery was born with a debilitating skin disease called Epidermolysis Bullosa. You can read about Avery here:
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| Butterfly Chair between two Palms |
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| Sitting on the butterfly chair |
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| Sweet Avery, our Butterfly Baby - Thinking of you! |
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| Mulligan's Beach Bar in Vero |
As our weekend in Vero comes to an end, we reflect on how lucky we are to be on this wonderful adventure together. We will head back north on the ICW and make our way to Titusville.
Mystic has a berth there for the month of May. We look forward to exploring along the way!
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