A great night out at anchor

This morning, Monday, we left Vero Beach or more affectionately known as Velcro Beach because people find it hard to break away from it. We spent 5 nights there riding out some heavy weather  but used the time profitably but can't believe where it all went. As we motored down the river it was hard to believe the time had gone by so quickly.

Yesterday we visited the Vero Beach Art Museum and saw some very nice exhibits. One of the neat things they had was an exhibit of Lego art by Nathan Sawaya which was quite extensive and very well done.

Visiting the Riverside Cafe for desert waiting for Sunday night football.

Getting out of our slip was a challenge since the fairway was only about as wide as our boat is long and boats on the other dock were sticking out. To make it more difficult there were 15-20 kt winds blowing from dead behind which served to push us across the fairway and keep the bow from coming around. To assist we used an old trick that we often used on our old boat. We used our spinnaker sheet to tie a line to a piling on the T dock and as we went out the slip I was able to maneuver the boat out and around with power and the bow thruster but was able to overcome the wind effect with the line. We got out quickly without hitting anything to the amazement of the many folks watching. It's always great to learn new skills in overcoming challenges.

A view of the marina mooring field.

The actual trip was fairly uneventful with little traffic. I think most people are sitting out the weather or where they are going for the holidays. We are now just a few hours out of Palm Beach, FL with 2 weeks to go the remaining 250 miles to Marathon for our winter layover.

We continue to see lots of dolphins all along our route which is fun and encouraging. They have always been considered signs of good luck.

Because of the weather we continue to see high water along the way and bridges are less than there stated level of 65' of clearance. Fortunately because of our weight we can fit under them without issue.

Tonight we are anchored just off the ICW (pix above) in a place called the Conch Bar. There are numerous very nice homes along the shore and US Route 1 runs just in front of them. The wind has been consistently between 15-20 kts but the shoal upwind has kept the chop to a minimum and it is very comfortable. We had a brief shower but looking forward to brighter skies tomorrow or our stroll through Palm Beach. But tonight is very pleasant in all respects and we are enjoying the peace and quiet and the music of the wind. The gnetle rolling wil rock us to sleep and make this a great night at anchor.