Stay Over Days in Vero Beach

—Blogpost written by Bob

Tuesday, April 28

We slept like babies again last night and I still didn’t feel like I caught up on my sleep from our recent overnight ocean passage. 

I installed our Ultra Flip Anchor Swivel in the morning while I waited for the marine refrigeration guy to come to our boat—it was a pretty easy installation and I can’t wait to try it out.  The instructions stated that if the unit is used with high-tensile chain (which I have), one size larger swivel should be used.  However, the breaking strength of the swivel is 12,740 pounds and I don't plan on ever needing even a small fraction of that much load.  I'm sure the anchor would pull out of the bottom before the chain or swivel would break!

I installed our new ULTRA Flip
Anchor Swivel between our
anchor and anchor chain.
(This is the Cadillac of
anchor swivels!)

I tried to get our 6 HP dinghy outboard engine repaired while in Vero Beach but all the outboard engine service people were too busy.  I don't think we will need it on the way home anyway, I just thought I would tackle it here if possible.

Our fridge was fixed by 1:30 PM and making cold! Three small leaks were found using a leak detector: one at each of two valve stems near the compressor and the third at a threaded connection on the discharge side of the compressor. All three leaks were able to be fixed rather easily by Ty Cobb Marine Refrigeration.  The system was completely evacuated and recharged with 5-1/2 ounces of Freon. This extra effort and experience (finding the leaks) was lacking in the Bahamas when they repaired our system and the repair (done right here in Vero Beach) cost 1/2 as much as the (poor) repair in the Bahamas. 

We promptly put the quarter berth back together and Maggie cleaned the last bit of spilled mayonnaise out of the ice box—what a mess!  It even clogged up the water strainer ahead of the ice box drain pump.  It took until shortly after 3 PM to get the ice box cleaned and all put back together.

I got to use my new (Black Diamond) head lamp while cleaning water strainer in the ice box drain line.  I purchased the Black Diamond Storm 375 head lamp from Amazon and had it delivered to Vero Beach City Marina.  The light from the LED bulb was very bright.  With this head lamp, I also have the option of using a red light (as shown below) when I need to maintain my night vision during night passages (which I hope not to do anymore!).

My new Black Diamond Storm 375
head lamp with the red
light selected.

I spent time in the late afternoon revising our travel plan since we have now determined that we are leaving Vero Beach on Friday morning,

Wednesday, April 29

It was a beautiful day in Vero Beach—the sun was shining brightly. There was very little wind but it was not overly hot. I finally felt like I was getting caught up on my sleep and our fridge was working—what else could I have wanted?

In the morning, I constructed a square wooden washer (from a small piece of 1/2” marine plywood I happened to have onboard) for use when emptying the Sceptre-brand Jerry cans into our diesel tank fill connections.  I used my battery-operated drill and my Dremel tool to make the washer.  I sanded it smooth by hand and applied the first coat of varnish well before noon. 

The wooden washer I constructed
for use with the no-spill
nozzles on the
Jerry cans.

For lunch, we had good old American hamburgers—Whoppers from Burger King.  Maggie picked them up at the drive thru and we ate them onboard.  I don't understand why we craved these--we don't usually eat them when we live in the U.S.

After lunch we replaced the starboard dinghy painter because it was badly worn, as well as updated the MD registration stickers on our dinghy.

Late in the day, I applied another coat of varnish on the wooden washer. I also picked up our refilled propane tank at the marina office—it cost $20 for the refill and pickup/delivery to the marina

Based on our recently revised travel plan, we expect to be back in Baltimore on Friday, May 29—exactly one month from today. Our travel plan includes doable 45 to 55-mile days and sleeping onboard every night—no more around-the-clock overnight trips or ocean passages!

Thursday, April 30

The sky was overcast and rain was in the forecast for the day but it wasn’t expected to begin until 11 AM. The temperature was relatively cool (low 70’s) and there was very little wind (about 5 knots out of the southwest).

Our main goal for the day was provisioning for the next 10 days on the ICW. Our next provisioning stop will be in Beaufort SC (but we will be stopping for fuel & ice sooner). We tackled this big goal in the morning at the nearby Publix. By 10 AM we had our nearly $400 worth of groceries back at the boat. 

The rain hadn’t appeared yet as we were stowing our provisions but it looked imminent. I could feel the humidity in the atmosphere—it was very much unlike the Exumas where the atmosphere was very dry.

The central dock of Vero
Beach City Marina.

It started to rain lightly at 10:30 AM and continued off and on throughout the remainder of the day.

The marina's landscaping is beautiful
with Live Oaks, Banyan trees, and
palms and ferns of all types.

Since we had our rental car until 2 PM, we decided to get take out pizza at Giorgio’s, our favorite pizza restaurant in Vero Beach.  We felt very fortunate that they opened at noon for take out during a pandemic.  The pizza was absolutely delicious as always!

s/v Rainy Days in Slip #N-13
at Vero Beach City Marina

In the afternoon, we got much-needed showers in preparation for leaving tomorrow morning.  Stay tuned for our continuing adventure traveling north on the ICW during a pandemic.

Stay healthy and thanks for following our blog!