Florida: Vero Beach

Day 294
April 30, 2016
NM Today: 13
NM to date: 4646

Before leaving Fort Pierce we had some provisioning to do.  Our food stores were seriously depleted, and since we finally did find marine toilet paper in the Bahamas but did not buy it due to the exorbitant cost, we needed a trip to West Marine as well.

The town of Fort Pierce, and the marina itself, made our vegetable shopping easy as they had a farmer's market on site. Two sets of tents populated the grounds - one contained lots of choices for vegetables and other food choices; the other, larger section, had booth after booth of crafts. We had no idea how the market was setup. Luckily we happened to stumble upon the vegetable part first, which was the section we needed to focus on. As we walked around, I loaded my trolley cart with lots of goodies.

Wow! Fresh Fruits and Veggies Galore!!!
I'm in heaven!

We had live music as we strolled through the booths. Many of the booths touted organic foods for sale including our first stop where we stocked up with zucchini and tomatoes.

A band set up by the seats at the entry to the farmer's market

I was very happy that Clark felt well enough to join me as we strolled around the grounds of the farmer's market. Besides enjoying his company it came in very handy that he was there when the sole of my sneaker decided to disengage itself from the rest of the shoe. As only two-thirds of the sole detached, I could neither remove it nor walk on it. I left my shopping cart with Clark and limped back to the boat for a fresh pair of shoes.

I found it most annoying to have to drag my right foot along as I could not lift it without tripping over the partially attached sole of the sneaker.  I returned to Clark at least four times as fast as I left him as, with serviceable shoes, I could step out at my normal long stride at a picked-up rate of speed.

Clark had suggested wearing a backpack, but I know how heavy vegetables can become, and I did not want to weigh him down unnecessarily. Indeed my trolley cart was very heavy by the time I was done collecting fruits and veggies, and I was glad I was pulling it behind me instead of trying to carry the load. How convenient to have that much wonderful food just steps from the boat!

Upon return, we quick stashed the food in the boat, grabbed a light snack and the bicycles, and headed off to the food store, pharmacy, and West Marine about two miles down the road from the marina. All of the stores we needed to visit sat along Route 1, so most of our bike ride was along the highway. Fortunately we found sidewalks the full length of the route we needed to take.

Before getting to Route 1, however, we rode through a portion of Historic Fort Pierce.

Traffic Circle - Historic Fort Pierce, FL

Historic Fort Pierce, FL - old trading post

Heading out of Historic Fort Pierce to travel Route 1 to the stores

We got our "head" needs at West Marine, got some OTC medicines at Walgreens, stopped at K-Mart which we found along the way to buy me some new sleeveless shirts, and finally stopped at Publix for essential food items. By the time we got to Publix, Clark was anxious about the time since he planned to leave the marina at 2:00, and we arrived at the food store at 1:00.  We had to complete our shopping, bike back to the boat, and prep the boat to leave all within a one-hour window.  (He got an extension beyond the 12:00 normal check-out time and we were fast approaching missing the extension time.)

Clark suggested that we buy sandwiches at the deli to save time. I put him in the sandwich line as I ran and collected just the very bare essentials - eggs, some meat and bread. The deli sandwiches took longer than any other part of the food shopping. We decided to take them with us back to the boat and eat after we left port. We pulled away from Fort Pierce City Marina at 2:02!

Fort Pierce City Marina - "Thanks for coming MON!!"

We traveled the ICW to move from Fort Pierce to Vero Beach 13 NM north.  Having boated for so long in the open waters of the Bahamas, it felt very different to be in protected waters with boaters all around. As I piloted through a portion of the route, two dolphins moved across the water directly in front of me. I always worry they will be hit by the boat when they do that, but they always appear totally carefree.

ICW to Vero Beach

Another section of the ICW to Vero Beach

 After the enormity of the Fort Pierce City Marina, the size of the Vero Beach City Marina took me by surprise since it is considerably smaller by a large degree. Unlike Fort Pierce with huge restaurants and boats at dock in all directions, Vero Beach City Marina holds a lot less boats and presents a more quaint appearance.

Laundry and Rest Room Building at Vero Beach City Marina

One thing I did not do in the Bahamas was laundry, and so, after a full month of being without a washer and dryer, I had laundry taking over the boat. When I went up to check out the facilities at the marina, I was shocked to find the laundry room had six washers and six dryers. I expected to see two at most.

Given the proximity and quantity of washers, I quickly decided to tackle the laundry as step one in getting the boat cleaned up from the Bahamas adventure. At $2.00 a wash and $1.50 a dry per load, I saved a ton of money compared to what it would have cost me in the Bahamas at $5.50 a wash and $5.50 a dry per load.

I started the laundry after 6:00, so it took until after sunset to get it all done. When I went to check the dryers in the middle of making dinner, I found them all coming to a stop as I stood and watched. Suddenly I felt completely overwhelmed by the quantity of clothes, towels, and sheets that needed to all be folded all at once. I ran for Clark, asked him to turn off the food I had cooking for dinner, and begged him to come assist with the laundry. We both folded mounds of laundry. As we got a tower of items, towels for example, Clark carried them back to the boat until we had it conquered.

Clark ran out for a sunset picture in the
middle of folding our laundry

Clark scanned for digital television stations and found a few, so we watched television after dinner until time for bed. The only show we found the least bit watchable, however, was Law and Order: Special Victim's Unit. I wondered by the time we had seen three episodes in a row if I would be able to sleep as I found each episode, although interesting, more depressing than the one before it. I concluded that I missed absolutely nothing in terms of television over the past few months without it.