December 24, 2019 - December 30, 2019
Since we were expecting to leave Vero (cruisers call it Velcro Beach which I now understand since we have been “stuck” here waiting for good weather) the day after Christmas we had much to do.
On Christmas Eve we started the day with grocery shopping and spent almost $500 stocking up on items which we will need in the Bahamas for the next several months. Because of import duty items imported from the US are at least twice the cost in the Bahamas. After we got all of the groceries on board I returned the car we had rented for a few days. Back at the boat I spent much of the afternoon finding places to stow all of the provisions we had bought - not an easy task.
Very similar to what I would do on previous Christmas days when I was surrounded by my family, I spent the morning cooking for the covered dish get together that was held in the boater’s lounge and for our upcoming trip. At 2:00 pm we brought our dishes of au gratin potatoes with ham and cranberry sauce to the boater’s lounge and enjoyed the food and fellowship of the many boaters that attended. There were even funny games planned. After dinner we returned to the boat which was still in a slip and relaxed. I heard from all of my children and my sisters that day. I do miss them all so much during the holidays. Bob had checked the weather and found out that our weather window had disappeared so we would be staying in Vero for at least four more days.
The weather while we have been here has been ugly, overcast skies with occasional bursts of sun and rain. Some days have been completely rainy. Not what we remember about the Treasure Coast on previous visits.
On Saturday we had lunch at the Riverside Cafe while we watched the Cotton Bowl Game. Penn State beat Memphis University 53-39. It was a close game until the fourth quarter when PSU pulled ahead.
On Sunday our friends, Mike and Vickie, picked us up for breakfast at the Lemon Tree on Ocean Blvd. It was great catching up with fellow boaters and renewing our friendship. After breakfast they dropped us off at Publix so we could resupply the foods we had already eaten from our Bahamas stash. Bob noticed that the weather window had changed again and we would cross to the Bahamas on New Year’s Day which gave us little time to complete our preparations. I did laundry in the afternoon. Next we brought our bikes back to the boat and stowed them in the quarter berth. All fun and games of course. We will leave on Monday to make our way to Lake Worth where we will make our crossing. Unfortunately, my Aunt Mary Ruth (my dad’s youngest sister) died last week and I won’t be able to manage attending her funeral next Sunday, unless the weather changes and we can’t cross to the Bahamas.
Sorry, no pictures this time.
Thank you for reading my blog.
