Vero, Stuart and celebrating my Mom's life
09 December 2016 | Stuart, Fl
Overcast, winds from the N at 12K
12-6 to 12-9
Departed from the South side of the NASA causeways at zero dark thirty. It is cloudy and mild with a relentless 20-25K wind on the bow with a rough chop. The whole day was like that as we plowed south to Vero Beach. I thought I saw a whale in the inter-coastal, it may have been a huge dolphin tail. Finisterre gave us a good ride and it was comfortable behind the cockpit enclosure. Listened to Christmas songs and NPR news on the way. Arrived at Vero at 5P after dodging T-storms. Just as we arrived at the Vero Beach Municipal marina to raft up to another Cat on a mooring the weather caught up to us and lighting and heavy rain engulfed Finisterre. We where able to tie up to the Cat which had no-one aboard just in time. I know now Kathi has sailing in her veins , she tied up to the Cat perfectly in close quarters to other boats in a torrential downpour. We settled in foe a cool winters night and had I nice home cooked Italian dinner and watched TV. The sky cleared and the stars and the moon gave us a visit.
12-7, a day of infamy according to Roosevelt. There were some specials on the survivors of Pearl Harbor, which happened 75 years ago. Hopefully we have learned our lessons from that event. We put in the dinghy and went ashore to pay our mooring fee which was a reasonable $15/day. We walked around Vero, what a nice place ( clean, friendly, beautiful building and right on the beach). The Atlantic calmed down from the 4-7 foot seas from the day before. We did some boat chores. The starboard engine compartment had a significant amount of water in it from the rain. The hatch must have leaked. I cleaned Ricky up ( that's the name of the Starboard Diesel engine, the port is named Lucy, you have to treat your engines very special if you want them to support you 24-7). Went to happy hour for cheap appetizers at a local restaurant and watched the sunset set, bugs were out. Got back to the boat and found out my Mom was admitted to the hospital. She moved into a assisted living apartment about a week and half ago. My brother Chet and Sister-in-law Marylou kept us posted on her condition which continued to deteriorate.
12-8, at 2:34 EST I received a message from my brother that my Mom passed. It was a shock to me even though she was 98 and struggling with her health. I cried and reflected how wonderful a mother she was. She had an extraordinary life. She's at peace now and joined back up with my Dad, which she constantly told me thats where she wanted to be for the last several years. I was happy that I talked to her last Sunday before she moved out of the town house. We departed early in the AM for Stuart Loggerhead Marina which we will keep the boat for a month. The trip down was somber. We had the wind to our stern which is rare and we flew down to Stuart 7-9Ks. It was overcast all day. Went past St Lucie nuclear power plant, where I worked at for many years. We topped off with fuel and nestled into our slip and went for a late afternoon walk.