Daytona Beach FL to Vero Beach FL

December 9, 2019 - December 15, 2019

We hadn’t heard from the diver and we needed to drive to St. Augustine (a one hour drive by car) to pick up a package that had been delivered to the marina so I rented a car from Enterprise. While in St. Augustine we had lunch at Pizza Time and bought some pop corn at Kernel Poppers.  Back in Daytona we stopped at a Publix to get a few provisions and the liquor store nearby to replenish our supply of Tito’s and Sailor Jerry’s.  The diver called while we were shopping and Bob arranged for him to come by first thing in the morning to dive below the boat and find the life line gate. Let’s hope he can find it.

Unfortunately Daytona seems like a “has been” beach town.  I know their main season is in the summer, but there were very few shops and restaurants open.  We probably won’t stop here again.  Especially since we got hassled by a police officer for riding our bikes on the deserted sidewalk. You didn’t know Bob and I were such wild characters. :)

We got up early on Tuesday morning to take showers and get ready to leave our slip.  The diver got there around 8:30 and did his best to find our life line gate, but just couldn’t locate it in the two feet of mud under our boat.  We left our slip at 9:30 and had to slowly pass by the fuel dock so we could return our keys by placing them in the net the dock hand extended to us.  Unusual procedure!  After a long boring day motoring mostly in a straight line except for the canal between Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River we anchored just outside of Titusville just before sunset.

We anchored just in time to enjoy the sunset.

We left our Titusville  anchorage early only to run into fog so thick the visibility was down to about ten feet.  We decided to anchor near the J F Kennedy Space Center Bridge and wait for the fog to lift.  We sat there for about an hour but, better that then running into something! We spent the rest of the day motoring in a straight line down the Indian River - boring! We anchored at 3:00PM and braced for a possible thunderstorm.

The rain started during the night and continued throughout Thursday.  Our 28 mile trip to Vero Beach was just plain miserable.  Even with the enclosure we still get a few leaks. On the way into Vero I had to put on my foul weather gear to get the lines and fenders ready for docking at the fuel dock to get fuel, water, and ice before we went to our mooring ball.  I was outside in the pouring rain the whole time and even my foulies couldn’t keep me dry. I was truly soaked to the skin. We shared a mooring ball with another sailboat and were only feet away from the mangroves.  I knew no-seeums would be a problem here and they were.

 Lola stayed nice and dry inside the enclosure
while I ran around on deck getting us docked
 and then on the mooring.

The weather didn’t clear up until Friday and even then rain was still threatening. We did some chores and went out to lunch for the first time in awhile.  The Riverside Cafe is accessible by water so we took the dinghy over (after I bailed it out for the fourth time in 24 hours).  

Saturday morning was still rainy, but by lunch time it cleared up and we had a beautiful clear day.  We took our bikes into land and road to the beach, enjoying the clear air and the sound of the waves.  On our way back we stopped at a park that was having a craft show.  So many beautiful items were displayed.  We bought a harness and leash for Lola at one of the booths.  We’ll see how that works out.  Watch for pictures of Lola in her harness or me with scratches up my arms. LOL

Sunday was a lazy day.  After showers we rode our bikes to Cravings cafe for breakfast and a sweet treat.  Their Christmas cookies are almost as good as mine.  I stopped at the craft show again on my way back to the boat while Bob continued back to the marina. Back at the boat I took Lola out on the cabin top for some play time.  She loves to chase lines that I wave around.  

We will be here in Vero for at least a week looking for some good weather to head further south and then make our crossing to the Bahamas.

Thanks for reading my blog.  Sorry there weren’t many pictures.