Mike
11/29/2008, Vero Beach, Florida

November 25th Vero Beach, FL


We took the 10:00 bus across the bridge and stopped in the strip mall where West Marine is located. I purchased a weight belt at a dive shop there and Kathy found some Crocs.

Then it was across the street to Publix for some groceries. We are making a fruit salad for Thanksgiving and we picked up some dinner rolls as well.

Back at the boat in time for lunch, I made meat loaf sandwiches. We spent an hour or so picking up the boat: Kathy doing dishes and working below while I worked on straightening up the cockpit area. With the sanding and varnishing that have taken place back there things were out of place.

At 4:30 we went to shore and along with Craig and Kris, were picked up by Nancy who ran us across town to their condo. We ordered a pizza and had a great time as usual. We were back aboard by 8:30 and watched a movie.




November 24th Vero Beach, Fl


Another lazy day here in Vero...we did some laundry. I sanded our trail boards and got a coat of finish on them along with our companion way and taffrail spindles.

We read books and I made a meatloaf for dinner.

Talked to the girls in London in the afternoon.

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11/23/2008, Vero Beach, Florida

November 22... Vero Beach, Fl


If we catch the bus at the marina on the hour we can get off a West Marine and then cross the street to the grocery store. Meanwhile, the bus heads in to the transfer station and then returns at about 35 after the hour. We can make the trip from our boat and then back in an hour with about 30 minutes of shopping time ... which is usually enough.

That's exactly what we did this morning catching the 9am bus... and then back by 10.

One of our purchases was oatmeal for cookies which I spent the remainder of the morning baking. The first batch was a little droopy due to the maple syrup but a couple tablespoons of flour corrected the problem. I made some oyster stew for lunch as well. Unfortunately the combination of two bowls of oysters and all of the broken cookies did not sit especially well and I took a nap after lunch while Kathy cleaned up my mess.

At the store we found some fresh green beans so using our friend Bernie's cookbook we pickled the beans in the afternoon.

There was a get-together scheduled on shore for 3:00 so we rolled up some pickles in cream cheese and dried beef for our snack to pass. Although we take them for granted, most folks had never seen them.

The Spartans were on TV in the Clubhouse and I checked them out occasionally. Luckily I didn't need to stay.

In the evening we watched another of Nancy and Jim's movies. Thanks.

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Mike and Kathy
11/23/2008, Vero Beach, Florida

November, 21... Vero Beach, FL


I made cheese grits topped with a poached egg this morning for breakfast which some of you in the northern climes should try. Boil up some grits, add one cup of good cheddar and a little salt. Poach a couple eggs and then spoon them on a bed of grits.

Kathy had a shopping date with Nancy so we headed to shore at about 9:30 for showers and to hook up with the transportation. I picked up the boat a little and worked on teak most of the time they were out. The wind picked up enough that I had to forgo and finish work at about 2.

When Kathy returned, neither of us had eaten so we had Bar B Que ribs in the middle of the afternoon as sort of an early dinner. She also came back with some "finds" from the outlet mall. At one store she bought two sleeveless shirts for $0.81. She also bought a new swimsuit ( the reason for the shopping trip) and some other bargains.

We were going to visit Perseverance 2 for social hour but the wind was strong enough that we would have been wet by the time we made it the 200 yards down to their boat. When Tom called to set a rain check ...we jumped at the chance.



November 20th... Vero Beach, FL


We hadn't added any water to our tank in about 10 days so this morning I emptied our two jerry cans of water and set out for shore to fill our containers. Our new filter slows the filling process a little but after 20 minutes or so I was heading back to Sapphire with 35 gallons.

We spent most of the morning, and early afternoon, working on teak again. Jim and Nancy came out with their new anchor and some supplies to brighten up our afternoon. Craig and Kris from "Tilt" stopped by to invite us over for snacks a little later.

We motored down to their mooring and caught up with them over drinks and snacks.


November 19th.... Vero Beach, FL


It is cool here, much more so than last year. The wind is blowing from the north and, although we are protected, seems to keep us in long pants.

Today we spent most of the day working on teak. I sanded the companion way down to bare wood while Kathy lightly sanded the spindles on our taffrail. The spindles are difficult to refinish so we try to keep way ahead to avoid the process of sanding them down to bare wood.

When we finished with everything we spent the remainder of the day reading.

The Spartans were our evening entertainment, although the game with IPFW seemed to be a defensive nightmare.

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