Vero Beach Municipal Marina, Vero Beach, FL (mooring ball)
December 5-28, 2022
We were warned about Vero Beach – lots of cruisers call it “Velcro Beach” because once you get in there, you kind of get stuck. We also knew that it was good place for us to stay for a *few days* so I could do my last virtual visit and John could take advantage of everything in the area.
We didn’t plan on staying as long as we did, but it turned out to be a good decision.
This marina is really protected – there’s a series of islands between it and the main channel of the ICW. We took our dinghy for a ride on our first day just to get a glimpse of everything (and to cool off, because it was a really warm day).
There’s so many boats here so the marina has boats “raft up” – they share a mooring ball and are attached to one another with lines.
Serendipitously, our Delaware friends Ed and Krista were in Florida and drove over to meet us at the marina. After dinner Ed and Krista were able to spend some time on Lailia with us (we hardly ever get company). They also graciously took John to the grocery store while I was working the next day.
That night our friends Chris and Colin took us to dinner in Vero Beach “city”. Vero was already working its magic.
When I am completing virtual visits, I don’t get to do much during the day. John and I decided that we would tack on a day or two to our stay at Vero Beach so we could explore and unwind together before we went further south.
John needed some stainless steel wood screws to repair the rub rail that was damaged in Spanish Cay. Vero has a free bus service that picks up at the marina – we had to take it to the main hub and catch a second bus to get to a hardware store. We got lucky and were able to complete our purchase in the store in time to catch the same bus on a return trip. Publix is also on the bus route, so it’s really easy to grab groceries as needed.
Four days turned into six days that turned into another few days – there’s regular pickleball games with players from the marina here on Tuesdays and Thursdays and John wanted to play. We decided to leave around the 13th so we could head south to the Keys.
During a downpour, we were reminded that one of our scuppers was not draining well so water was backing up on the deck. This had been an issue since we were in Maryland and we were pretty sure that it was due to seeds (all that bird poop) that had gotten into the drain and either swollen or sprouted. There’s an elbow curve in the drain that makes it really difficult to clean out – but we tried with a collection of tools meant to clean out drains. We had little success shoving them down the scupper until we noticed that there was a piece of plastic stuck inside the drain. John fashioned a tool from an old wire hanger and pulled out the plastic zipper pull that had been blocking the drainage. It’s just another boat thing that took a bunch of time and cursing to fix.
In preparation for heading south, we moved to a t-head where we filled our water tank and equalized the battery. That evening Christmas carolers boated through mooring field making it feel just a bit more festive.
We were in no hurry to cast off on the gray and rainy morning – we also started thinking about our timeline and the holidays. As much as we both wanted to spend some time in the Keys, we made the decision to stay in Vero Beach so we didn’t have to worry about weather windows (it’s not fun to HAVE to travel in crappy weather) and so we would be in a cruising community for the holidays rather than taking a chance that we would be anchored somewhere with no one near us to celebrate.
We headed back to the mooring ball and rafted up with the boat we’d been tied to.
Three weeks in the same location provided lots of opportunities for interesting photos of the marina and mooring field, as well as the ocean (when we walked to that side of the island).
The winter “bomb cyclone” that dropped temperatures throughout the country impacted us, although not as much as folks further north. Overnight we had an incredible change in temperatures from the upper 70s to the upper 30s. We spent the last warm day outside and at the art museum.
At anchor, we use propane to heat Lailia (our ceramic heaters need a lot of electrical power to run) and were able to stay nice and cozy. It’s just a little difficult to have to jump out of bed to light the heater in the morning!
We missed spending time with our boys so much this Christmas, our first that without at least one son in 30 years. That was a huge emotional struggle and I don’t know that I was really aware of how difficult that would be. John and I zoomed with the boys but we missed hugging our kids and spending time with them.
The marina cruising community had a small potluck which gave our day some light. A walk with two other ladies, plus some text messages from friends, also helped.
We’ll be heading north on the 28th so I can return to work in Charleston County School District in mid-January.
Life on Lailia 