We finally left Vero (Velcro) Beach this morning. It was bittersweet as we are moving on from this wonderful place where there is such a sense of community. I feel, however, that we could easily while away the winter here, going to the beach, going for long walks/runs and spending money at West Marine. But, we have more ambitious plans and we left the many new friends we made to work our way to West Palm Beach (Lake Worth) to prepare to cross the gulf stream to the Bahamas.

A fellow boat, Breeze Hunter, a gorgeous Hunter DS 420 has left with us to take advantage of what should be a great weather window to cross to the Bahamas. We're entering the very populated part of Florida and there are many power boats of all sizes and speeds sipping around in the channel. Tonight we've anchored in Peck Lake just off of the ICW. We're surrounded by various boats but it's a perfect evening.

Our plan is to finish the 25 or so miles to West Palm Beach, finish our provisioning and get ready for a very early morning (Sunday) departure for Grand Bahamas. This is a very big milestone for us and I will comment more on this in our next and final pre-crossing blog tomorrow.

Tonight, we've had a great meal in the cockpit with 65 degree temperature at 7:00 pm, light winds and flat seas. We've called various of our family tonight as our communication once we leave the continent will be sporadic. More about this tomorrow!