April 14

April 14. When last I left you we had just survived the night from hell as all the boats around us had broken free and dragged during the night. I got to bed at 0430 and now its 0800. I was awakened by the sound of the boat behind us using his windlass to hoist his anchor.

We had planned to spend the day here enjoying the oceanfront with the dogs. We’ve awakened to a wet dismal day with more rain in the forecast. We make the decision to get underway for Vero Beach as I can’t take the chance of another night with very little sleep. I take the dogs to shore and it starts to rain. When I get back Christy dries the dogs as best as can be done while I pull the dinghy up onto the davits for the days trip.

Once we’re all ready for the trip we haul the anchor with Christy at the wheel in the building rain. After we’re underway I go below and change into dry clothes and start our trip north. It’s only a 40 mile trip north with a half dozen bridges to negotiate. After 30 miles we’re able to catch up to the boats that left an hour before us. Oh, and the sun has come out. 

Once we arrive at Vero Beach we hit the fuel dock for 45 gallons of diesel and over a hundred gallons of water. We’re sent to a ball that has a 40 foot Island Trader on it. We rafted up with no problem and were set for the night.

We’ve been here for a week now and things have been good. The free bus system here is very handy so getting to any store you’d like is no problem. They also have a nice laundry mat here on site so laundry isn’t too bad to take care of either.

Christy’s brother and his wife were in the neighborhood so we got to spend a bit of an afternoon with them on Saturday. Things are pretty nice here so we’ll probably stay here until the 20th or so as we have to be in Saint Augustine by the 26th to meet Christy’s parental units.