We woke to 15 knot NNW winds howling around the boat. I must say that knowing a cold front had moved in and winds were blowing hard was not in the least conducive to getting out of bed and preparing to get underway. Nevertheless, we had a goodly distance to travel from Vero Beach to Cocoa and had to get going.
Many of the loopers we met at Vero Beach planned to move on to Cocoa. The only exception was Satori who had planned to leave but decided that they would not violate their captain / mate agreement not to travel when winds exceeded 15 knots. Gusts went well over that limit.
One by one the rest of us left the marina. Time Out and Follow That Dream left yesterday with an intermediate stop planned before Cocoa today. Today, the first to pull out of the Vero Beach marina was Captain's Choice. Then we left followed by Compass Rose. Because of the winds, Compass Rose made reservations at Melbourne with plans to stop there instead of Cocoa if the winds made travel uncomfortable to go all the way.
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| Captain's Choice leaving Vero Beach |
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| Compass Rose underway |
One picture we cannot take is one of ourselves underway. It is always greatly appreciated when another boater captures the shot!
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| Sunset Delight underway - Clark waving, Evelyn piloting! |
As we headed north the weather grew colder and colder. I started out with a long-sleeved t-shirt and jeans. Then over time I added a jacket, added a fleece under the jacket, added a scarf, hat, and gloves, and finally added a second pair of socks!
Besides the looper boaters we recognized as we moved towards Cocoa, we found lots of other interesting vessels on the ICW.
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| Very pretty boat on ICW |
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| Whoops! The Odyssey - not underway - not clear how many days, weeks, months or years this vessel has sat here |
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| Gone Walkabout from Seattle Washington We have not met, but it is an interesting boat name from a long way away |
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| Mostly sunken boat with "USCG OK" written on it multiple times |
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| Colorful Tugboat on the ICW |
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| Bridge at Cocoa, Florida |
Before we left Vero Beach, because of the high winds, Clark tied an extra line around the cover on the dinghy to keep it from shifting around. Unfortunately, the line acted like a sharp knife due to the wind and sliced the cover nearly in half. As soon as we got the boat docked, Clark pulled the cover off and handed it to me. I pulled out my Janome sewing machine and did the best I could for a repair.
When we were tying up at the dock, Sandra from Compass Rose yelled over to our boat from hers to invite us for drinks on board her boat at 5:00. Consequently, I had one and a half hours to get all my sewing done, so I was focused on my task. I finished at 5:05, left my machine on the table, grabbed a snack to share, and went to relax on their boat.
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| Docktails on the cockpit of Compass Rose Sandra (Compass Rose), Evelyn, and Mark and Karen (Captain's Choice) |
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| Boat Tour - just how many people can fit in the Master Stateroom for a look under the stairs?! |
While we enjoyed our docktails, Clark received a phone call from Time Out inviting us to join them and Follow that Dream for pizza at Ryan's Pizza and Pub restaurant at 7:00. So, when we left the docktails party, we immediately headed into town for dinner. Mike from Curtis Stokes joined us there.
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| Pizza at Ryan's Pub Kent and Jan (Follow that Dream), Evelyn and Clark (Sunset Delight), Mike (The Perch), and Jean and Don (Time Out) |
After dinner the others walked back to their boats. Clark wanted ice cream, so the two of us walked down the street to Village Ice Cream. The sign on the store said they closed at 9:00, and we arrived at 9:09. Even so, the owner told us to come in and she served Clark. He checked out their sorbet flavors and did not find one he wanted, so he settled for a vanilla cone. Since I was full of pizza, I passed on dessert.
When we finally got back to the boat, I had no energy left and headed straight for bed.
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