24. Vero Beach

Time passes quickly and we continued south on our quest for warmer weather. After few days, on Dec. 20 we stopped in Vero Beach meaning only to stay a day or two and then head back to the village of Cocoa where we had made arrangements to leave our boat. The entire time we have been away we made very little time commitments and were very easy about staying in a place longer or shorter depending on how things went. This was one time, however, we had to be somewhere as we were flying home for Ukrainian Christmas on December 28th.

Our plans were not to be. The day we were going to leave for Cocoa, Roman found a hole in the exhaust system. We did not have enough time to repair the exhaust and still sail back to Cocoa. So we ended up staying in Vero Beach and leaving our boat at the docks at Vero Beach Municipal Marina while we were away. Thus we were at Vero Beach and not at Cocoa, as planned, for December 25.

On Christmas Day, all the boaters got together and had a wonderful Christmas potluck. Everyone brought a dish large enough to feed 10 people. We had three large turkeys, two hams, several varieties of stuffing, numerous salads and vegetables as well as many many desserts. Sailors really have a sweet tooth. I guess that I have always been a would-be sailor with my love of baked goods! We had a wonderful dinner and a great time with new friends.

It was wonderful to go home to see our family and friends. Even though we enjoy sailing, we do miss our parents, our children Ev, Nicole, Katya and Paul and our grandson, Tyler. He is getting so big and picks up things so quickly. Although every grandparent thinks their grandchild is the cutest and the smartest, ours actually is!

That is why I have devoted the next blog to our first grandchild!

We thoroughly enjoyed visiting with our friends and we both gained weight from all the big meals that everyone fed us. Although we were busy every single minute, there was still not enough time to spend with everyone. We got back late on January 8th exhausted and ready to rest.

Vero Beach is called Velcro Beach for a reason. It is indeed quite difficult to leave. It is now January 18th and we are still here and likely to stay for another four or five days. Roman has fixed the exhaust but is still working on hooking up the new radios we bought (both boat and satellite). He has built a bookcase, is also going to replace the front hatch cover, put up a ham radio Raymarine depth, wind and speed indicators. I have been very busy cleaning the boat and assembling all our provisions as everyone has cautioned us that in the Exumas where we are headed and indeed all the Bahamas, everything is imported and casts several times the price here in the States. This is especially true of bulky items such as toilet paper and paper towels.

Common sign on the bridge - we would be lucky to go so fast!

This is a great place to stay and we really like Vero Beach. There are a lot of interesting things to do. Today, for example, we bicycled to Ocean Blvd. which was closed off for a street jazz concert. Tomorrow we plan to go for a walk along the beach. It is a truly great place to provision for the trip to the Bahamas. There is a phenomenal bus system that is free and provides access to a vast myriad of stores including West Marine, Wal-Mart, Target, Lowe’s, Home Depot, Publix just to mention a few. The bus comes right into the marina to pick up boaters who make very good use of the bus system.

This is a great place for riding your bike. Roman and I went to a jazz night on the beach front last Saturday and on Sunday we went to see an art festival. Both times we rode our bikes.

We have been so busy that I have not had time to write anything at all. Last Saturday, Jan 22, we went to see a production of The Boyfriend at the Vero Riverside Theatre. We went to a matinee as we did not want to walk back to the marina in the dark. The music was entertaining and the acting, singing and dancing quite good but the plot was silly. I guess it depends on your mood when you go to see something like that. Overall, it was an enjoyable experience.

It is now January 22 and we are leaving Vero, or should I say Velcro Beach, on Thursday January 24 FOR SURE! Our month is up and we will be on our way. I think that we have bought everything that we could possibly need but I’m sure that we have forgotten something. When we need “it”, it will seem so obvious that we will kick ourselves that we forgot “it”. Isn’t that the way life usually is?