19 May 2016 | Port Annapolis Marina, Annapolis, MD
06 April 2016 | Port Annapolis Marina, Annapolis, MD
13 February 2016 | Port Annapolis Marina, Annapolis, MD
21 January 2016 | Port Annapolis Marina, Annapolis, MD
09 December 2015 | Port Annapolis Marina, Annapolis, MD
05 November 2015 | Annapolis, Maryland
22 October 2015 | Annapolis, Maryland
01 October 2015 | Annapolis, Maryland
14 August 2015 | Annapolis, Maryland
15 July 2015 | Annapolis, Maryland
08 June 2015 | Hillsmere Shores Marina, Annapolis, Maryland
26 May 2015 | Annapolis, Maryland
14 May 2015 | Annapolis, Maryland
09 March 2015 | Annapolis, Maryland
17 February 2015 | Annapolis, Maryland
08 January 2015 | Annapolis, Maryland
08 December 2014 | Annapolis, Maryland
31 October 2014 | Annapolis, Maryland
20 October 2014 | Annapolis, Maryland
04 October 2014 | Port Annapolis Marina, Annapolis, Maryland
Thanksgiving Week in Vero Beach
23 November 2013 | Vero Beach, Florida
Donna

On Wednesday we left Eau Gallie for Vero Beach. I ran down below to put some sunscreen on, leaving Bill at the wheel. At that exact moment a dolphin jumped completely out of the water right next to our boat. I missed it! I did not miss the thunderstorm we had while underway though. I can’t really complain we haven’t had much bad weather at all.
We had been trying all week to get Vero Beach Marina on the phone for a reservation. They have lots of moorings there and there is really no place to anchor. As many times as we tried no one ever answered the phone. I told Bill to try again during the rain storm and he was finally successful! You don’t really need a reservation but if you have one you get a mooring to yourself at least for a little while. Vero Beach is the only place we know of that puts up to three boats on a single mooring. They especially do it this week since we hear that the Cruisers Thanksgiving Pot Luck in Vero Beach is a “must-do”. We stayed here last year for a couple of days but it was in early January so we didn’t have to share a mooring. Above is a picture of the mooring field from the bridge. We are all the way in the back, on the left.
We were pretty apprehensive about the whole raft up next to a boat and cruisers that you probably never met. A number of the people we talked to had found people they knew that were coming here and requested that they raft up with them. We are not that socially organized. We decided to just wing it. We were by ourselves until this afternoon when a boat pulled up and said they had been assigned to our mooring. Bill and he decided they needed to try the approach again so I got to see the boat name as he went past us. I was fairly certain they were the first boat we met at our anchorage when we went to Maine this summer. They had helped us make a list of all the places we needed to see. I was right! We got a good match! There is still the probability that there will be another boat rafted up with the two of us. Since their boat weighs twice as much as ours we decided to let them be the middle boat. We drove away on our dinghy this evening and looked back and Moonraker looks like a tiny boat next to theirs!
Vero Beach is also known as Velcro Beach to cruisers. There is a free bus from the marina that takes you to the beach or into town where there are lots of stores and restaurants. The showers are good, there are six washers and dryers and a nice lounge you can sit in. There is also a cruisers happy hour at least once a week. It’s easy to get stuck here. We are only planning on staying until at least Thanksgiving. I probably won’t blog again until then so I can share my thoughts on exactly how much of a “must-do” the Cruisers Pot luck Thanksgiving meal is. The town provides the turkey, the cruisers bring the rest, including, apparently, their own place setting and drink. It’s at the community center which is just a short walk, next to the bridge we took the picture from.
It’s supposed to be extremely windy for the next few days. Maybe we can get some things done inside the boat!