Our Last Days in Vero Beach

Apr 10 & Apr 11

--Blogpost written by Bob

Tuesday, April 10

Yesterday, it was only 42 degrees F in Annapolis, Maryland while it was in the mid to high 80’s here in Vero Beach, Florida. There is a nice light (maybe 5 knot) breeze out of the south this morning. Thunderstorms are in the forecast for early this afternoon but the sun is shining brightly at the moment. 

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We have to do three major chores within the last two days in Vero Beach: laundry, engine maintenance, and provisioning.  I think we will tackle laundry and engine maintenance today and provisioning tomorrow.

In the late morning, we completed the engine maintenance and then went out for lunch, taking our dirty laundry along with us.  The storm clouds were gathering as we came back to the marina.  I took a quick shower and then zoomed out to the boat in the dinghy while Maggie did the laundry.  I just made it to the boat when the downpour started.

This photograph is looking northwest
into the oncoming storm.

This view is looking southwest as the 
rain pummels the mooring field.

I managed to get all the hatches closed before the inside of the boat got drenched.  The thunderstorm was very violent at the start but only lasted for an hour or so.  The storm finally cleared up in the early evening but it looks like we might get some more rain later tonight. (We didn't though.)

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This evening, we’re waiting for a telephone call about our first choice in Maine Coon kittens—our first choice has a calico-like coloring and is located in Maryland. Our second choice is a black and white kitten located in Pennsylvania.  We decided to wait through tonight for the return call from our first choice—if we don’t receive it, we will go with our second choice in the morning.  

Well, while we were waiting and re-evaluating our choices, our prior second choice became our current first choice.  We called the cattery in Pennsylvania and made all the necessary arrangements to buy the cute little 5-month old black and white Mine Coon kitten.  We’re going to name her Gypsy.  Of course, we won't be able to pick her up until we get back to Baltimore in mid-May.

This is a photograph of Gypsy at the
cattery in Pennsylvania.  Check
out her big feet and big ears!
She looks half asleep.

Wednesday, April 11

This is our seventeenth (and last full) day in Vero Beach. At 8 AM the sky is completely overcast. A 10-knot breeze is blowing out of the north and the temperature is a cool 67 degrees as we begin our day. There is a light drizzle happening but the forecast is for clearing soon.

We have a myriad of little things to do today: mail a check to the cattery, buy antifreeze and mix it up, call about status of RAINMAN water maker repairs, get provisions for the next four days, and turn in our rental car.  In addition to these things we have to fill our water tanks and buy ice cubes on our way out of the marina tomorrow morning.

After our breakfast onboard, we took off in the rental car to run errands, including picking up a gallon of antifreeze and three quarts of oil (for our next oil change at 900 engine hours). We went out for lunch at Giorgio’s—they have the best pizza in Vero Beach!

Located in a small strip mall, Giorgio’s is not fancy
but they make the best pizza in Vero Beach.

We got a ton of provisions at PUBLIX and then turned in our rental car.  Back at the dinghy dock, we put one-half gallon of antifreeze in each of two gallon containers. We filled the remainder of the volume with water to obtain the recommended 50/50 mixture.  

We spent about an hour getting the dinghy engine and fuel tank stowed onboard s/v Rainy Days, as well as arranging our lines so that we could leave at first light tomorrow morning without waking our boat neighbors.

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The weather forecast for tomorrow is partly cloudy, a high temperature of 77 degrees and 12 to 13 knot winds out of the northeast, clocking around to east in the afternoon.  Sounds like a nice day to motor along on the ICW.

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