Kathy-Tom_Blue Water Adventure

You may wonder how this picture of an empty stage relates to Kathy's and Tom's sailing adventure. The empty stage was from a play we attended while in Vero Beach and the 'empty stage' is a metaphor to our revamped plans, but you must read on to find out why.
This will probably be our final blog because we decided that although we love sailing, the long term cruising life is not what we felt it should be for us to continue. You may remember that we ran into the previous owner of Whisper, she really missed the boat, and also liked many of the improvements we have made to her since our purchase in July 1999. We have greatly enjoyed caring for Whisper throughout the many years. Yes, there were times when we wished we did not have her when unexpected problems developed or another expense occurred. However, there were more times when we were on Whisper that the satisfaction of our own little water haven could not be measured.
On May 7, 2016 we started our boating season with the intention of a few shake down cruises and then a plan to head south for about 6 months. Except for two planned and brief periods during the initial shake down portion of our cruise, Whisper was our home until March 14, 2017.
We were surprised how little actual sailing we did during our trip to Florida and missed the simple pleasure of an easy sail. Although we feel capable of completing most repair and upgrade projects on Whisper, it became a question of what will need repaired next and are we really sailing much?
Therefore, after having Whisper for almost 18 years, we decided to sell Whisper back to the previous owner and this was completed on March 14, 2017 while we were in Florida.
We met many wonderful people out cruising their boats and we will certainly miss seeing them. Although in this type of travel you are never guaranteed to run into anyone again. There are too many different places to go and things to see. We are now at an 'empty stage' of our life and look forward to seeing what the next “act” brings in new and different adventures. I know there will be times when we will charter sailboats in other ports and countries but for now, we will step back and enjoy being in central Pennsylvania.
For those who have followed our blog and occasionally provided comments, thank you very much. We enjoyed hearing from you and knowing people were enjoying the blog. Maybe someday we'll be reading your blog!

The photo above is a quick snapshot of the mooring field taken from the bus as we drive over the bridge near the marina. You can only see about 1/3 of the field from this angle.
Interesting time right now as some of our friends are heading north (for part-time work requirements) and others are still going south (Florida Keys and the Bahamas). We have lucked out immensely with the weather as most of the rainstorms that do hit us do so during the night. (Sort of like that old Camelot song, something like – “The rain may never fall til after sundown. By 8 the morning fog must disappear.) We did actually have fog one morning which really seemed strange down here in Florida!
One of our friends here is spoiling us because she has dropped off dessert treats twice now. Apparently she loves to bake and her husband doesn’t care for sweets. Luckily for those of us in the marina who have become friends with this couple, we are all reaping the benefits!! Good thing we have plenty of opportunity to walk or ride our bikes so we can work these sugary calories off.
Tom and I enjoyed a “local” treat just the other day. We met another couple who rode to church for Ash Wednesday. They were then heading off to Mulligans restaurant for the “local special” which isn’t shown on the menu but if you know to ask for it gets you two eggs, two pieces of toast, and home fries for just $2.99. You just have to order a drink as well so Tom got decaf and I got milk on Thursday for a wonderful low cost breakfast.
Here at Vero Beach City Marina – and apparently “kennel” as half the boats seem to have dogs on board – also has two parrots in residence. The one located above the shower facilities is very vocal and we can hear it easily from our boat. Tom is starting to answer back and is thinking of getting an alarm clock that sounds like a parrot. In the meantime we will continue to enjoy the real life parrot and all the other amenities Florida has to offer.

Kathy – We have been busy biking all around Vero this past week. Besides going up and down these lovely quiet streets with their gorgeous canopy trees (in photo) and stopping for fun at a couple of open houses on Sunday ($540,000 for a little 2-bedroom, anyone?), we even rode the historic “Jungle Trail”. Last week we figured out how to catch two different buses to get us up to the Wabasso Bridge near Sebastian, FL. From there we rode to the start of the bridge and then walked to the top. Our cruising bikes are only single speed so there’s no way I could ride up this bridge that goes up over the ICW with at least 65’ clearance from the water!) From there it was a fast breezy ride down the bridge and over to the Jungle Trail where we rode north the first time up to the Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge. This is a wonderful wildlife refuge but our timing did not coincide with any pelican sightings. I am told at certain times there are hundreds trying to nest in even the smallest areas. Maybe some other time we’ll see white pelicans. The brown ones are quite common in our area. Today we caught the same two buses but this time when we got to the trail we rode south along the waterway and eventually back to Vero Beach.
Last Sunday after mass we rode our bikes down to the art show near the beach. As we were heading back to the boat we heard live music and stopped at the “Grind & Grape” to enjoy a light lunch and enjoyed some light jazz. We understand they play every weekend if it isn’t raining so this is something we will probably be doing again.
Tom – We have been on the main bus at the marina and connecting buses so often that the one driver recognized us because of our unique bikes and knew where we wanted to go. I did not think we would get this much use of the bikes when we bought them in December 2016. We really enjoy being able to hop on the bikes and ride around town.

Kathy's section - Our photo this week shows us moored with Always, another Alajuela 33 owned by our friends John and Eve. They were here for a few days before moving on south. It was the first time we had ever had both boats side by side and we took the opportunity to really compare our similarities and differences.
Here in Florida we are enjoying record warm temperatures, most weeks we have had days in the 80s. Of course, that is not without its consequences. Yesterday and today we have had a system moving across the state bringing winds in the 20s+ and gusts into the 40s!! As well, there were some severe storms though luckily for us they were mostly north and those that did go overhead were relatively mild. More average temperatures in the 70s are predicted for this week.
During the milder days, we have been treated to a local college's women's sculling teams going by in practice sessions. These boats can really move when they have their rhythm going. I saw a manatee going just behind the boat the other day. I heard the exhalation and thought I would see a dolphin but instead saw the slow-moving manatee swimming by but it gracefully did a dive and disappeared before Tom got topside. Hopefully we will get a chance to see more of these unique creatures.
Tom here - We are continually finding new things to do. On Saturday we went to the 5th annual 'Bark in the Park' festival. This is a mass gathering of dogs and their owners. Many events were going on. One was the air dock challenge which is when the dogs leap into the air to catch a toy before falling into the water tank. We also watched the world championship Frisbee catching dogs; later there was the police K-9 demonstration. Kathy spun a prize wheel and we won free tickets to a local play later this week at the Riverside theater.
People ask what we are doing all day? Well, a simple boat project always seems to creep up when you thought you were done. Unfortunately, one part is always not quite right and it needs to be ordered. Another task that takes time is simply doing laundry. If enough washers and dryers are open, it may only be an hour or two. However, there are a lot of cruisers here and a backup on the machines can happen.

Happy New Year!
This picture is of Holy Cross Catholic church that we are attending for some daily masses and on the weekend. We are meeting people and have been referred to as the ‘bike couple’ because our bikes are unique and we park them at the bike rack near the church entrance. A cold wave came through on Sunday and it made getting to church interesting. We got up and headed from Whisper to shore at about 6:45 am. After we came ashore we hopped on the bikes and rode about a mile each way to church. Did I mention the air temperature was about 42 degrees and wind was blowing with gusts 20 to 35 mph? Brr!!
A couple we originally met in Charleston, then sort of hopscotched with to Beaufort, SC, offshore to Cumberland Island, GA, and shared Thanksgiving with in St. Augustine, FL, travelled to Vero Beach, FL and became mooring neighbors during December left on Monday, January 9, for about four months in the Bahamas. During this time, we became good friends and enjoyed their company, unfortunately, we have no way of knowing if we shall meet again. That is the way of this cruising lifestyle.
Don’t get us wrong – we are really enjoying this weather and our time in the sunny south. We rented a car for a few days and have scoped out some snorkeling sites as well as biking trails. We intend to enjoy biking, beach time, etc. as we continue our sojourn on Whisper. And we are continually meeting new people as the boats and crews are constantly changing here in Vero Beach. We also went to the Farmer’s market they hold down by the beach on Saturday mornings. We ended up eating our way around the stalls – starting with a large cinnamon bun, quiche and a Scotch egg from “Poppins Pies”, and a blueberry muffin. Thank goodness we don’t do this every day!!!
We are aware of all we are missing back home and look forward to getting back into the swing of things once we return. Until then we’ll keep up the blog and hope you’ll enjoy following along on our adventures.

Merry Christmas from sunny Florida!
This past weekend we decided to look for a couple of used bikes so that we could explore even more of the area and get around easier than just on foot. Tom found a listing in Sebastian, the next town north, for used bikes in the $20+ range. Monday morning he called and spoke to “Bob” who confirmed he had several that might serve our purpose. So by 9 a.m. we were on the free GoLine local bus #1, which took us to the main hub where we switched to the #11 bus to Sebastian. Our driver Bill, looked at the address we needed to get to and recommended we hop on the #12 for the final portion of our trip and also told us where the nearest hub was to catch a bus back. We reached Bob’s address just past 10 a.m. and found two bikes, paid him and headed on our way to catch a return bus. We stopped briefly at a Winn Dixie where Tom noticed his front tire had a crack so we called Bob and asked if we could come back and trade his bike for another one that we had seen. No problem so back we went, traded out the bikes, and set off again.
We didn’t know the exact schedule of the bus we needed so we hustled to get to the hub, which unfortunately we rode past as it was behind a gas station. We ended up turning after an extra ½ mile or so and swung past a middle school where we got the exact location of the hub. A bonus to this side trip was that we biked past two large cranes standing right by the bike trail. They were beautiful birds and I will have to research to see what exactly they were. Finally we sighted the hub but no buses so we stopped for a bite to eat at Burger King and then hurried over for the bus. We caught the #9 to take us to the Indian River Mall, where we needed to switch to the #2 to get to our original hub. The buses have bike racks on the front, though some hold three and others only two. While the #9 held three and we made it to the Mall, the #2 only holds two bikes and there was a bike already on! This meant we couldn’t both go on the bus so we chose to wait for the next bus (one hour later). Unfortunately when it came by again the same bike was still on. The owner chose to ride the bus so Tom loaded my bike and I hopped on the bus but he rode several miles where he planned to intercept the final bus back to the marina. I went to the main hub and made the final switch to the #1 bus which returns to the marina. Tom was waiting at one of the #1 bus stop locations and we both made it back to the marina by 3 p.m. So a record six buses in one day and only six hours traveling. (And you probably wonder how we fill our days!) Needless to say we were happy to just relax on the boat for the remainder of the day!
One other note relating to bikes – we had Tom’s folding bike on the boat but never used it. With only 16” wheels it is not as comfortable or fast to use so we decided to sell it. Tom put up a notice and we sold it within a day – and made more than it cost us for the two full size used bikes. Not a bad deal all around!! Tom’s new bike was painted a flat black which was rather ugly, so yesterday he used some boat trim paint and painted some of the frame a light tan color.