2018: Vero Beach

11/11/2018
No boat travel.

Glad to be staying in one place for a few days, we mostly had a lazy day today. Cathy generously offered to take me to Publix to stock up on food. Having not shopped for more than bread and deli meat since leaving New Jersey, I needed quite a few supplies.

While I was away with Cathy, Clark worked with Franklin to see what could be done to revive the pool after several months of sitting idle. Besides the pool being full of algae, it had some mechanical problems as well including the pool cover that could not be removed and the pool pump. They had their work cut out for them.

Cathy offered to prepare dinner for the four of us. I contributed a vegetable for a joint effort. We enjoyed a leisurely dinner and dialogue until Clark and I said our good nights and headed back to our boat.

11/12/2018
No boat travel.

With another day of no planned boat travel, I decided to do early Christmas shopping. While I did that, Clark worked with Franklin on opening the pool. Since the machinery for removing the cover was not functioning, they took two screwdrivers and wound the cover back manually. It took 30 minutes to get the job done. Once the cover was off, they could survey the status of the pool.

                         G-R-O-S-S!

Much cleaning would be required to remove the build up of algae that had accumulated in the Florida heat.

Cathy and Franklin are house hunting in Florida. Franklin worked on skimming algae from the pool until it was time for them to go exploring with the real estate agent. Having Franklin left, Clark continued to work on the pool.

Since Cathy cooked dinner last night, I cooked the dinner for tonight. I cooked on the boat, but we ate in the house where we had plenty of space and refreshing air conditioning.

The sunset tonight came first in bright yellow and then in pink tint.

Sun setting in Vero Beach, FL

Late day sky in Vero Beach, FL

11/13/2018
Travel to Vero Beach City Marina for a pumpout
Depart: 9:25
Arrive: 11:40
Distance: 10 NM

I grumbled to Cathy last night while preparing dinner that we needed to take the boat out to the local city marina for a pump-out. Whereas I saw it as a chore, Cathy saw it as a boating opportunity. Having company along for the ride definitely made the trip a lot more appealing to me. Since Cathy and Franklin would be house hunting in the afternoon, we decided to make it a morning excursion.

When I went about preparing my breakfast this morning, I happened to look out the door to the cockpit and was amazed to see the yard peppered with Ibis. I guess they wanted breakfast too.

Ibis in the Morning

The four of us left the dock just before 9:30 and arrived at the city marina about 15 minutes later - a super short trip! We had garbage type waste and holding tank type waste to dispose of. Fortunately, the marina was willing to take both types of waste.

Sometimes pump outs are fast, but more often than not, they take a very long time. The pump  can struggle to remove the waste for any number of reasons - poor seal, weak pump, blocked air vent, ... Well today's experience was not pleasant. After 40 minutes of trying to suck muck, Clark finally decided the job was "good enough" and give up trying to get any more out of the tank.

At that point he disconnected the waste connection, and for me, it turned into the "pump out from hell". Muck that did not make it down the hose flowed out in abundance making its way down the walkway of the boat. It looked like thick beef gravy as it oozed along gaining speed as it began its trip down the length of the boat.

I had a paper towel in my hand that I planned to give to Clark once he was done to wipe up the expected drips. I planted that lone towel in the path of the flow while I ran for reinforcements. I came back wearing a rubber glove and carrying a large wad of paper toweling which I used to push back the muck. Since I was wearing a glove, and Clark was not, I unscrewed the hose connector for him. So totally disgusting!

Before the "flood", I had planned to use a wet paper towel to clean around the connection. The way the boat is designed, any water applied at the bow of the boat travels the full length of the boat to exit out the drain holes in the stern. I had hoped to avoid washing any muck down the walkway. Hah!

The dock hand had the hose ready, but looking down the walkway, I saw not just lines ready to adsorb any muck that came along, but multiple fenders and our power cord as well. Before we could tell him to spray it down, I had to move all the items in the way. Thinking we would have just a quick trip, we had left everything in place ready to tie up and plug in quickly upon our return. Fail!!!

Fortunately, the paper towels collected the bulk of the "gravy". Those and my rubber glove went in a garbage bag and into the trash in a hurry. The dock hand ran the hose along the walkway and made all evidence of our mess disappear. In fact it was cleaner than when we started the ride. Clark gave him an extra tip to make up for taking so much time and making a mess that he helped clean up.

With that smelly start to our boat ride out of the way, we decided to do a little pleasure cruising before heading back to the dock. Upon our return, Cathy and Franklin left to get ready to go out once more with the real estate agent. Clark and I had our lunch.

I guess Clark had not had enough of playing in muck at the marina. After lunch he decided to work on mucking out the pool. For an hour he pulled bag after bag of algae from the pool. There is only so much nastiness I can handle in one day. While he worked, I sat on the patio in the shade and watched. By the time Clark was done, the pool looked a hundred times better.

Scummy pool bottom

Back of yuck collected from bottom of pool

Clark the "Pool Boy"

After that, we relaxed on the boat enjoying a cool breeze. As we sat there, in the cockpit, I could feel the air temperature dropping and could tell that rain would soon follow. I verified with Clark that all hatches were in the closed position and then waited for it to arrive. Just a small pop-up shower -- it started slowly, then poured, then stopped, and then the sky cleared as if it had never been.

The storm has passed.

Sunset at Vero Beach

Sunset at Vero Beach

11/14/018
No boat travel.

Cathy took me to Publix again today. She needed a few items, and I decided to add to my stock pile of food supplies. While we were gone, Clark and Franklin continued to work on the pool. This time running the vacuum to clean out the remaining residue of slime.

Just as Cathy and I returned from our shopping trip, the homeowner of the dock where we are staying, Don, pulled into the dock as the conclusion to his Great Loop adventure. His son,Scott, traveled with him for the length of the journey, and Scott's wife, Carmen, joined them for portions of the trip.

Looper boat on final stretch of its loop!

Beautiful "Mariah" returns from her Great Loop trip.

"Mariah" backing into her home port

Cathy, Carmen and I chatted the rest of the morning away. Don, Scott, Franklin, and Clark continued the on-going pool adventure. Don had called someone to come in, and they fixed the pool cover problem. With chemicals added, the pool actually started to look like something a person might want to swim in!

Don suggested we all go to dinner together at a local restaurant. With 7 of us, it took two cars. We ate at the Riverside Cafe where I had the largest piece of grouper I have ever seen. My plate contained enough food for two people, so I took half home for another day. Delicious! The waitress had a great sense of humor and added to the fun of a night out for dinner.

After dinner we returned home to partake of a celebratory ice cream cake to welcome home the Gold Loopers.

"Congratulations on Gold" with little AGLCA burgee

Cutting the Cake
Scott, Carmen, Don

11/15/2018
No boat travel.

With a cold front passing through, we got cooler temperatures and rain today. Before the rains came Clark was up at the house talking to folks and inspecting the pool. It looks so much better with all the work and chemicals applied over the past few days. In fact it actually looks like a place someone might want to swim!

Pool is so much cleaner now!

The rains passed in the morning and after lunch, Cathy, Franklin, Clark and I went for a walk to checkout the "walkability" of Vero Beach. We passed some of the homes that Cathy and Franklin have looked at, walked through Jaycee Park, and strolled along the beach jumping out of the way of the incoming tide.

Jaycee Park, Vero Beach, FL

Bethel Creek House of Refuge - Historical Marker

Site of Bethel Creek House of Refuge at Jaycee Park

Stroll along Vero Beach beach

Life Guard Station on Vero Beach beach
(propped up by wooden supports after hurricane damage)

For dinner tonight, we had another pot luck dinner where Cathy prepared part of the food, and I prepared a portion as well. Once again, we had  a very pleasant evening of good food and conversation.

Clark was disappointed in tonight's sunset picture. The picture does not do nature's work justice. The clouds should show much more vibrant colors than the camera captured.

We are anticipating cooler temperatures tonight, but at least we do not have snow here like we see at our house in New Jersey. Actually the cooler temps feel nice after the hot, humid days we have seen this week.