Vero Beach - At a mooring

Vero Beach now has a pet parrot

The trip north was uneventful and we made Vero Beach by 2:30 pm. The weather was once again extraordinary and it's due to continue through Friday when we leave here at 7:00 am for Titusville. However, then the weather takes a turn for the worse. Thunderstorms are predicted for the next 7 days. There's a cold front headed south that's due to stall right over the top of us. So we've had great weather but it looks like it's going to change.

Vero Beach is one of those places on the ICW where some cruisers hang out for the entire winter. They feature a free bus service all over town, not a free shuttle but a full fledged bus service connecting over a dozen bus lines to service the entire county. You can reach Walmart, Home Depot, West Marine, Publix, etc., really an excellent offering unmatched anywhere else on the ICW. The moorings are only $13.50 compared to $22 at Marathon with weekly and monthly rates even less. Of course, it's a little further north than Marathon and we wouldn't want to stay the winter here. There's nothing like Key West but some people seem to like it.

A great, new attraction is the new dog park - Hoolie loves to run!

We spoke with Gordon, one of our cruising friends who spent the winter months in the Bahamas and he had the same high winds in February that we did in Key West. It was difficult finding an uncrowded anchorage since everybody wanted to be secure for the night in the same places. I think we'll just stay in Key West, it suits us.

We're off at 7:00 am Friday for Titusville but the big obstacle is the bridge to NASA that closes between 3:30 and 5:00. We would expect to arrive just about the time the  bridge closes. The last time we just anchored close to shore and waited which we'll repeat if we don't make the bridge. So if you see us stopped just short of a bridge on Spot, you'll know we missed the opening. We'll continue on to Titusville when it opens.