Farewell to Nemo
04 December 2015
Saturday, November 28
I had time for a short morning walk with Judy. We walked across A1A to the board walk and climbed the stairs for one more glimpse of the ocean. The waves are really churning this morning. There are small craft advisories offshore through the weekend. They are calling for 20-30 knot winds with 8-10 ft. seas. We returned to the marina, untied the lines and left the dock at 8:00. There were light yellow butterflies flying around us all day. They must also be on a migration south! They keep coming up to the windows one by one, fluttering around and peeking at us inside. There is a ton of recreational boat traffic around Daytona Beach. After all, it is a long holiday weekend. We are tied up at the wall in New Smyrna Beach at 3:30. We walked into town. The remnants of a holiday bazaar are left on main street. There are tents from one end to the other with all kinds of crafts. As we reach the end of main street, the last of the tents are taken down and the Christmas lights on the palm trees begin to light up. We walk around the ruins of an old fort and back to the waterfront for dinner at Porpoise View seafood restaurant. They are having a half price special, including drinks! The seafood is amazing. Everyone loves what they ordered. Grilled flounder, mahi mahi, coconut shrimp and salad topped with mahi mahi and shrimp. Yum! Good thing we had to walk to get back to the boats!
Sunday November 29
We were away from the wall at 7:45 a.m. The sun is out but the clouds are building. We watched a few squalls move in from offshore. We seem to be right on the edge. It rains on us twice, but the clouds are moving quickly so the showers don't last long. The sun peeks out in between. There is a rainbow behind us for much of the day. There are dolphins all around us, flipping their tales and jumping out of the water. There are pelicans diving into the water and coming up with fish that are quickly gulped down. The small islands and sandbars are filled with birds. There are many fishermen out today. I spotted a manatee swimming by our boat. We covered nearly fifty miles today. It is a perfect ending to the day when we are escorted into our anchorage by pairs of dolphins. It is a beautiful anchorage. Nemo sets the anchor and we raft along side. We enjoyed a stir fry dinner in the cockpit on Nemo as the sun went down. Again we study the charts to decide where we will stay tomorrow night. We are just a few days from Stuart, where Judy and Don plan to leave their boat while they return home for the holidays.
Monday November 30- Tuesday December 1
It was a peaceful night at anchor. We are up at 6 a.m. and ready to cast off at 7:30. Our destination today is Vero Beach. There is a lot of traffic today. Our friends from Bath pass us on the way. We actually did a little sailing today. It's a good thing that we had the main sail out because we noticed that it needs some repair. We are staying at Loggerhead marina for two nights. It is a nice, small marina surrounded by a gated community. The pool is inviting, but we opt for showers and an early dinner. I am up early the next day and get two loads of laundry done by 7:30. Then, Judy sets up her sailrite sewing machine to make our repair. We are lucky to have Judy! We set up a little tent around her to give her some shade. The sail had to be taken down and draped over the bow of the boat. She did a beautiful job and then replaced a buckle on Carl's bachpack too! Our friend Davido, who lives in Vero Beach, came by to see us. He gave us all a ride over to see the city marina. We are thinking about staying there a few days. We saw our friends, Michelle and Tim, who we spent some time with in Portsmouth last spring, I really like this place. The setting is beautiful with huge trees draped in spanish moss. The mooring field is very protected and surrounded by mangroves. There is a free bus that runs a loop for shopping. We can walk to the beach here. We quickly decide to take a mooring. Davido takes us all back to Loggerhead. We enjoyed a swim before dinner. Judy and Don came over for spaghetti and a game of mexican train.
Wednesday December 2
We say farewell to Nemo as they cast off at 7:30 a.m. We have had the best time traveling with Don and Judy. They have been a great buddy boat and so much fun! We're going to miss them. They are planning to return in late January and look for a window to cross to the Bahamas. We took some time to wash the boat, fill the water tanks and take showers before leaving Loggerhead. We fueled up, pumped out and headed for the city marina. It is just at the next bridge, about three miles. The mooring balls all have two and three boats on them. We get our mooring assignment and pull along side a beautiful sailboat named Anneteak. Brad is on the deck and he helps us raft up. He and his wife Anne are from Toronto. Anne is shopping so we'll meet her later. Once we are secured and have fenders in place, Carl and I put the dinghy in and go to the office to check in. Davido calls and invites us to go to dinner. It's raining when we get in the dinghy and head for the dinghy dock. Davido picks us up and takes us to his condo to pick up Sandra. We enjoyed a nice evening out. After dinner we returned to their place for apple crisp and coffee. Davido has some time available and has offered to go with us to the Bahamas if we want to go earlier. He has been many times and it is an offer that we can't refuse! We looked at the wind predictions and where we want to go. We decided that we will get together again soon to plan some more.