Vero Beach
10 May 2012
Hot & Sunny with Afternoon Rains Squals
Arr'd at Vero Beach Municipal Marina in about 4 ½ hrs. Picked up a mooring...$14.85/night!!!!!!! Clean bathroom, showers, laundry and free pump-out! Lots of live-a boards here. Free bus service...a great amenity as soon as you figure out the schedule!! What a nice place to winter over! Vero has long been known as the "gateway to the tropics..."temperate climate and warm Gulf Stream breezes. The Indian Rriver citrus community thrives here...produces more than ¾ of Fl grapefruit crop.
The day hot and humid...92degrees and 94percent humidity...ugh!!!! Had torrential rain, thunder and lightning storm in late afternoon...w/in 45 minutes, dinghy had water up to transom, gas tank floating!! Discovered leaks in boat I didn't know I had!! Pumped out dinghy w/an electric pump...and off we went to spend a lovely evening w/Bob and Gail's brother and sister-in-law (who are snow-birds and live here in winter). Went to "Bobby's" (on beach) for supper...GREAT burgers and fish sandwiches!
Spent Tuesday figuring out free bus schedule!! was able to get to West Marine!!
Spent Wednesday w/good friends/cruisers that we met 5-yrs ago in Newport...Tom and Linda Leonard...what a fun day. We ate, toured, went to their beautiful home on the river, and ate somemore!! Beaches beautiful...but we did not get a chance to go in as yesterday, as we ate lunch overlooking the beach, a woman was bitten quite badly by a shark!! She was only wading in waist deep water...and a large shark took quite a bite out of her thigh. As fate would have it, a med-vac helicopter was returning from an operation, and saw the trails of blood!! She was airlifted to Fort Peirce...and is in serious condition!! Needless to say, beaches closed to swimmers!! Spent today at Tom and Linda's bookstore...the likes of which I have never seen!! 27,000sq feet; 2 buildings; 2 stories...and the most wonderful childrens' floor I have ever seen. The store is well-known, and has many famous authors come to speak and do book-signing. I can't believe I spent my day there...but I was fascinated! It is "Vero Beach Book Center"...
Well, we are preparing the boat to leave in the early am...head south to Stuart. We need to be in Ft Lauderdale by the beginning of next week...have a quick weekend turn-around to MD (Grandparents Day for Nathan); wedding Sat in VT; and home to visit rest of grandhchildren on Sunday and celebrate Becky's 37th bday...then an 8am flight back to Lauderdale and on to the Keys!! Stay tuned...