Vero...


We got out of Beaufort, SC last Saturday morning. The seas were a bit lumpy as the big winds had just gone through. They settled down by Sunday though. We left with Veranda (Christie and Bill).

It was a bit of a "bitter - sweet" exit as Mike and Kathy (Sapphire) came down for steak night Friday. They will be staying back in Charleston for most of the winter. Too many boat "issues" to take it to the Bahamas. We had a normal "tons of fun" night enjoying a monster of a steak...and a fair amount of rum. We said good-by to Sapphire as they drove back to Charleston...there were some wet eyes in the crowd.

On Sunday morning as we were near St. Augustine, Veranda called and said they were going into port as their dog, Tucker, was not feeling well. We decided to continue on to Ft. Pierce. It meant another overnight, but the weather was good. It ended up being a good decision (I like it when decisions go well...not all do). We rounded Cape Canaveral just before midnight. We spent the afternoon listening to football via Sirius/XM...how about those Panthers!!! My new adopted team.

We also had one of the best Dolphin shows ever. There were a whole bunch and they jumped all over the place. They would jump totally out of the water and land on their backs. We never get tired of seeing the Dolphins. It's said they are sign of good luck. I believe it.

As my friend Bill on Veranda would say: "Let's talk about inlets". Inlets are problems most of the time. It really doesn't matter - in or out. As we went around Cape Canaveral, the chart plotter told me that the ebb tide (going out) would be opposed to the wind from the east at our arrival time in the morning. This is not usually good. In fact, the current would be 3 kts against us. This meant that there would probably be standing waves in the inlet...of significant size. So...we slowed down to arrive a bit later and hoped that it would calm down a little.

Well, we got there around 10:00 AM and it looked fair with the binoculars so we started in. We decided that this would be a good time for Kim to take the helm for an inlet...what the hell, it was daylight why not. I'm here (glad to be) to tell you that she did fantastic. She steered a straight course with a 2 KT counter current and 2-3' standing waves in the inlet. She used the range markers that in the inlet and kept the Fine Lion safe. It's amazing how the water can push around a 12 ton vessel! You have to do a lot of manual steering and it's a constant battle in those conditions. Kim has now added another notch to her sailing belt. It looks like pretty soon I'll be just baggage...or ballast.

I also have to report that the new stuff on Fine Lion is all working great. The new chart plotter is awesome. I can't believe how great AIS is. It all makes sailing safer and less stressful. You have so much information available to you that the old guesswork is a thing of the past.

So we are on a mooring ball in Vero Beach, FL. The place is sort of a Mecca for cruisers. It's very cruiser-friendly. They have Wi-Fi, free buses, nice laundry, showers, a West Marine, a Publix, several liquor stores, restaurants, etc. There is a serious weather front for the remainder of this week so we will not take off for a few more days. Plus we have lots of friends in the area...so that means lots of partying. It starts today with lunch with Savage Son (Bob and Bev). Veranda should get here this afternoon, it's in the 80's, we're in shorts and t-shirts, what's not to like?

Gettin' some air...



More later...