Resting and Waiting

Although this was not our planned route, we managed to enjoy ourselves coming south on the ICW. The ICW has been less frustrating south of Ponce de Leon due to two primary reasons: (1) the course is relatively straight as opposed to the repeated hairpins up in Georgia, and (2) the majority of bridges are fixed at 65’ as opposed to draw bridges with timed openings. If any of you are thinking about coming this way, we highly recommend a stop at Vero Beach Municipal Marina. We took a morning there last night, rafted up with ‘Dream Weaver’ a 42 foot Catalina. Taking a mooring is one thing, but we had never rafter up on a mooring before, and the winds were making Dream Weaver hunt back and forth. Since Frank and Patty were not home on Dream Weaver when we arrived, Skip on ‘Ducks in a Row’, a 46’ Hylas, took sympathy on us and lent us a hand. He boarded Dream Weaver to take our lines and it all worked out splendid. We were ever so grateful for Skip’s help. Later on we met Skip’s wife, Betsy and their miniature long-hair dachshund puppy, Drake. I discovered that Betsy was still in the compliance field in investment banking. It was fun talking, such a small world.
We met a number of great people at the marina, as well as on the free bus ride we took to Publix. It is easy to provision, go to the beach, the movies, restaurants, Tiffany’s for Boaters (West Marine), do laundry, drop off trash, get water. Wow, I can see why Vero Beach has earned the nickname ‘Velcro Beach!’ I liked that place, and I would go back.
This morning we topped off with diesel and water and made way for St. Lucie’s. We had an exciting moment attempting to enter the anchorage on the north side of the causeway. The charts indicate an 8 foot depth, but we saw it rise up to 4 feet and had to quickly move out of there (we draw 5 feet). We are now anchored on the south side of the causeway, a little choppy in the SE winds, but Hold Fast can handle it. Here we will wait for a weather window to cross over to the Bahamas. We are listening to Chris’ weather in the mornings and I would imagine there will be others crossing when Chris says it is favorable. Please pray for light winds from the south.
We heard from Kenny and Barb and they are doing great. It was a long four week crossing with little winds. They are currently in the Grenadines and Kenny is tempting us to meet them in Cartagena. As you all know, and as we responded to Kenny, we just do not know our long term plans. Goodness, we are barely managing short-term plans which, right now, only extends to what we are having for dinner!
Love to all,
Dena

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