Back up to Vero Beach

Although we traveled familiar territory since the last entry of this blog, each trip is a bit new and different. We get to see things we missed on earlier trips or just happened to be there at the right time this trip. The travel went well with cooperative weather most of the time. We got in the water for more exploring, saw the sights and sounds of the city and lots in between. Here is a chronological report:

Sunday, May 25^th

We ended up staying at Rodriquez Key for two nights. Part of the reason for this was the fact that we wanted to avoid traveling to Miami in the middle of the Memorial Day weekend. Saturday we took some time to kayak in the shallow water near the island. It was shallow enough that we couldn't have used the dinghy with the outboard. It was interesting to see several rays swimming around. Sandra was startled when she saw a 5-6 foot shark heading right for her in her inflatable kayak. It turned out to be a nurse shark and quite harmless, but for a moment it was a bit scary.

Sunday we continued our journey north up to Angelfish Creek where we crossed through into Card Sound and Pumpkin Key to anchor for the night. (For those interested, the Creek was plenty deep enough for us near high tide.) It was just an afternoon's trip, since it was only 20 miles or so from Rodriguez Key. What surprised us as we left was the crowd at Rodriguez that day. There's a sand bar just out from the island, and it was the gathering spot for 40 or more boats on the weekend with lots of people in the water. We'd never been through here during busy weekends in the warmer weather, so we were quite surprised. We also noted that the dive/snorkeling site of Molasses Reef was mobbed with boats as well. Fortunately, Card sound that evening was pretty quiet.

Monday, May 26^th

We left Pumpkin Key late morning hoping that the worst of the boater traffic would be calming down by the

We decided to let him have right of way.

time we made it up through Biscayne Bay to Miami. It did still get pretty busy, but not real crazy as it might have been. We had more good sailing in the Bay as well. On the way, we saw a boat that had capsized and partially sunk. Not sure what had happened, but there were a couple of towboats there with large balloons to help keep it afloat. As we entered the Miami Harbor we thought surprises were over for the day, but a large cruise ship came into the ICW channel to turn around. It was a turning basin but not a big one. We had to wait for the ship to do a 180 and head back out of the harbor. The remainder of the travel was uneventful and our planned anchorage near South Beach wasn't crowded.

We spent the day Tuesday visiting South Beach. It's a great place to people watch. We also did a bit of grocery shopping, since there was a Whole Foods and a Fresh Market there. Each time we visit Miami, I am reminded that I could never get a job there that dealt with the public, since I don't speak Spanish. It's as close to feeling like a foreign country as one can get here in the States.

Wednesday, May 28^th

This was to be another travel day. Either we stayed on the ICW to face 30 – 40 bridges by the time we got to West Palm in two days or go out in the ocean and try to make the whole trip in one day. The weather didn't seem to scary, so we opted for the outside route. We figured our time to be in the range of 12 – 13 hours without any help from the wind or currents. Well, we figured wrong. We only went out about 4 miles but got a good boost from the Gulf Stream as well as from a light breeze. Net result: we made the trip in about 9 hours.

We anchored just inside the inlet south of Peanut Island. This gave us a great view of ships coming and going as well as easy access to the park on Peanut Island. Maddie was anxious to get off the boat , since she had been off only once in more than a week aboard. We got over there twice – once with her and then back again for a bit of snorkeling. They had installed an artificial reef just off the beach, so we wanted to explore a little. It was great with lots of fish. The big surprise, however, were the manatees that showed up. It was our first time swimming with manatees. They are such gentle animals. Watching them swim, all I could think of was a man swimming in a big bubble like costume.

Friday, May 30^th

A new way travel on the water...or over it.

We were back “on the road again” the next day, this time heading up the ICW for a short day that got us to an anchorage called Peck Lake. It's not a lake – just a wide spot in the ICW, but it's a pretty spot with just a short walk to an ocean beach. On the way there, we watched something quite unusual. I'm not sure quite how to describe it, but luckily, Sandra took a photo which is included.

Part of the beach was closed off to people. A tern nesting site (it was the nesting season), and the birds were everywhere. And they didn't want us anywhere near them. As we approached the barrier ending our walk, they were buzzing overhead, already unhappy with us. Not wanting to disturb them, we did an about face and walked away.

Saturday, May 31^st

This was the day we made it to our destination – Vero Beach. We noticed the the mooring field was nearly devoid of boats, unlike the scene when most cruisers come through in the late fall or early winter. We picked up a mooring close to the dinghy dock and went in for a real shower. (The shower on the boat is functional but not like one on land.)

We're here for a week or two. Jennifer will join us later this week, and we'll all begin our trip to the Abacos sometime next week when the weather is right for the crossing. The blog may be a little quiet for the next week or so. Without the travel, I'm not sure what will come along to motivate an entry. But until then, whenever then might be, I'll sign off.

Captain Bob

Carpe Diem