Tuesday dawned bright and cool, 8C, just when we thought that we had found the warm weather for good. With the passing of the cold front the wind had shifted and increased making the anchorage a little uncomfortable. However, we were confident that our anchor was well hooked so we headed ashore to meet Bill and Cathy for a walk around historic Cocoa Village. The town Center has been revitalized over the past few years to serve the cruise ship passengers from Port Canaveral, and it has numerous interesting shops and restaurants. However, the highlight for us was a family run hardware store, first opened in 1890 and probably has some of it's original stock. It reminded me of the old Hudson Hardware but on a bigger scale, and yes, we all found something to buy.

After enjoying a late lunch at a waterfront restaurant we bid the Bredts goodbye and headed back to Dagny. The winds had continued to build all day so we decided to re-anchor south west of the bridge and enjoyed a nice quiet night at anchor.

We have a lot to do in Vero Beach so we were off the hook by 8a.m. for the 45 mile trip, helped along by a stiff northwest breeze. The marina is run by the city and is a popular hub for transient sailors. The harbour is extremely well protected and the mooring field is always full, no reservations required. The only stipulation is that you must be prepared to raft up in order to accommodate everyone. We'll be here for 3 days finalizing our provisioning and preparing Dagny for the Bahamas.

We have met some new friends here already and look forward to the next few days. The only issue with Vero is that people come here for a few days and end up staying much longer than planned, earning it the nickname Velcro Beach. However, weather permitting we'll be out of here on Saturday or Sunday.

Today's picture is of the mooring field at Vero.