I Saw People in Shorts!
14 January 2011 | Vero Beach, Florida
Jill
We woke up early as usual. We got ready and left as soon as it was light; the days are getting longer here, we were off the dock just before 7 AM and it was already light enough to see. We had a pretty uneventful run. The ICW here is reasonably well maintained so there were no shallow areas.
Towards the end of the day we came through what must be the beginning, or an outlier, of the gold coast, as the waterway was lined with huge, beautiful homes. We got to Vero Beach at about 3:30 and decided it was warm enough to moor out on the water. This was the first time we've ever used a mooring ball. Aside from a tense couple of minutes waiting for the marina to get back to us on the radio and then finding the correct ball, it went smoothly. I was able to snag their pendant line with a boathook and cleat it on our bow and the boat seems to be sitting happily.
We deployed the ladder, set up the dinghy with gas and lifejackets (Fuzzy got to wear his, he was so happy) loaded ourselves in it and off we went. It was the first time Fuzzy had been in the dinghy, the first time I'd been in it with an engine, and the first time more than one person had been in it. No problems. (Well, one little problem, the self-stick numbers we bought at West Marine are falling off; we're going to have to get stencils and paint.)
We hung around the marina office for a while waiting for the folks to register us (the mooring ball cost just under $15, and includes use of the dinghy dock, bathrooms and laundry). While we were waiting a number of people walked by in shorts and t-shirts. I still had on a long-sleeved shirt, a sweatshirt, and my foul weather jacket. I was a little too warm; it felt great!
After Fuzzy walked and we registered we motored back to Earendil. Bud made me take us back so I'd learn to use the dinghy. I made him take the picture of Earendil at her mooring. We both did a pretty good job, but I had trouble turning the outboard sharply without also turning the throttle, so I was a little jerky.
I've added a few more photos to the gallery, including one of the little houses we saw and me at the helm of the dink.