2025-11-23 Final week in Velcro (Vero) Beach

We did not plan on spending so long in Vero Beach.  It has the nickname of Velcro Beach, because you tend to stick around longer than planned, and that happened to us.  With the new hot water tank not due to arrive until Thursday, we had time to do some other projects. 

Apologize for the lack of photos, just busy, and not a good job this week with photos. 

Monday we went out for a nice lunch with Tracy (Phoenix Rising) and Pat who owns Galileo – Pat is no longer cruising but lives in Vero Beach.   

Nice lunch out at Casey's in Vero Beach

After lunch, we went to the local Publix and did some provisioning, and took the bus back to the marina.

Tuesday, Kris started working on modifying the jib sail cover to fit the new jib.  It turned into a 2-day project.  We did not have a lot of material left, so she measured multiple times with multiple fittings to have enough material for the modifications.     

Modified jib cover.  At least the sail is protected now, even if the cover isn't that pretty

She also sewed up some stitches in the dinghy chaps where the thread had rotted away in the sun, and made a new cover for our dingy gas tank to keep it more protected from the sun.  We used the orange Sunbrella we purchased in 1993 for our first cruising boat and still have a bit left.

Restitching the dinghy chaps

We have a bit of orange on every boat we have owned

Thursday, we took out our old hot water tank, which involved draining the coolant on the starboard engine as well as that engine coolant runs through the tank.  We got it all out and got the area cleaned up for the new tank.

Old tank out.  Kris taking off some fittings

Old tank out, and ready for new one to be installed

Friday, our friends on Breathe came back to their boat, and our hot water tank arrived.   We went out to lunch with Breathe, Phoenix Rising and Scott and Tina formerly of Sangaris.  Have a nice lunch at Five Guys – but forgot to take a photo.    After lunch, Breathe took us to Home Depot and to Walmart.   We got parts to install the hot water heater, and many more groceries.

Old tank has stainless cover, new tank plastic cover and much lighter

Back to the boat, and we got the hot water heater installed.  Finished up late Friday night, and got many many groceries put away.  The boat is the heaviest it has ever been, or seems that way, with all the food we have onboard.

Saturday, Breathe once again helped us out by taking us to a metal recycler to get rid of the old stainless steel hot water tank, and a final trip to get even more groceries.  We will be eating good for a while.   After the trip, we cast off lines, said farewell to Breathe, and headed out.  Big THANK YOU to Breathe for running us all over town for groceries and supplies.

Monica and Jason on Breathe

Motored down the ICW to Jensen Beach to anchor for the night.  We will continue south today, and hoping for a crossing to the Bahamas soon.

 

 

2025-11-16 Friends and fluid leaks.

Sunday, we upped anchor and left Eau Gallie and headed south down the ICW to Vero Beach.  Vero Beach has the nickname Velcro beach because everything is so convenient and easy, you tend to stay longer than not.

Our friends on What If also headed to Vero, and got in before us.  In Vero, rafting of boats is normal as there are limited moorings, and they will raft two deep on catamarans, and sometimes 3 with monohulls.   The office told us we would need to raft, and since our friends Monica and Jason on Breathe were here as well, we opted to raft up with them.   

Breathe and Charm rafted together

Monica and Jason have been here a while, and had a vehicle available to them, so Sunday afternoon we jumped in the car with them and What If and headed to town to run some errands.   Hardware and groceries were on the agenda. 

Monday was back in the car for more errands with Breathe.  Stopped and saw the peacock in Fort Pierce.   

White Ibis and one of the Peacocks.

Went out for a nice lunch at a Mexican restaurant.   That afternoon, we helped Jason rebuild a couple of raw water pumps for his engine.  Monday evening we all went over to What If for happy hour or two.  Always enjoyable to spend time with friends.

Ed, Cathy, Kris, Dean, Monica and Jason.   Fun evening

Tuesday was a chilly morning, so we stayed inside where we had our little electric heater going.  Luckily, it was sunny, so the inside of the boat warmed up nicely.  Dean worked in the head and replaced our leaking macerator pump with a spare we had onboard.   Kris made a dessert, that turned out badly, and stuck to the bottom of the pan, so we scraped it out, in crumbles and ate it with a fork.   We were going to take the desert to a Manta get together in the afternoon, but that did not work out.   We did go to the Manta get together, had pizza and treats and it was great to visit with everyone.  Vero Beach marina has a small lounge we were able to use, which worked out great, as it was still a bit chilly outside. 

What If, Skoolz Out, Charm, Scott and Tina who used to own Sangaris, Breathe, Emanual IV, and Clark who used to own Sojourn

We also found a leak in our salt water wash down pump, which also powers our heads, and a leak in our freshwater supply line to the hot water heater.   Dean replaced a hose on the salt water pump, and Wednesday we headed to town to get a new supply line for the freshwater pump.   All these pumps were in our Vberth area.  These trips to town take a bit of time, the bus is free, but to get to Home Depot we have to take the small bus to the transfer station, then the big bus to the Home Depot area.   The buses come by once an hour, so a three-hour trip minimum.

After the fixes, the Vberth was finally all cleaned and dry again – Until – later that night, found that not just the hose on the salt water was leaking, but now leaking elsewhere.  

Kris cleaning up the water leaks - again

Our friends on Sojourn arrived in Vero on Wednesday, and Wednesday night we went with them over to What If, where Cathy and Ed hosted us for a nice dinner.  This is their last season cruising, so What If will be going up for sale, and they are purchasing a home.  Exciting for them, and we are happy for them, but we will miss seeing them on the water.   We will just have to stop by their house on the land.

On What If for nice dinner

Thursday, our new salt water pump arrived and Dean installed that.   Thinking all was good now, we put all the items back into our dry Vberth storage area.  Our new jib had arrived, so we also put that up.  We also had the end of the camberspar rebuilt and installed that as well.   The jib looks great now, and no issues, so we are finally a full sailboat again.   We also installed the new parts for the engine coolant drain - busy day of projects.

New Camberspar end

Sail installed and looks good

Friday morning, Kris ran the engine a bit for hot water and to charge up the batteries.   Later in the day our replacement spare Macerator pump arrived, so she crawled up in the Vberth to put it away and found water in the Vberth again.   WTF?    We searched and searched, but could not find the source of the water.   Then Kris had a thought, and turned on the engine again to heat water, and sure enough, the tank was leaking, but only when heating.  So we are under the Vero Beach Velcro curse – with one more thing to fix before we leave.   We ordered a new hot water tank.

Friday we headed back into town to get some line to make lazy jacks for our new jib.   The old one did not need them, but the new one is slippery and harder to control when we take it down.  That evening we had another Manta get together, as Sojourn was not there for the first one, and neither was Tracy from Phoenix Rising who arrived on Friday.  Had a happy hour outside as it had warmed up a bit.  Good conversations and snacks.

Alex from Moonraker, Tracy from Phoenix Rising, Pat from Galileo, Duane and Karen from Sojourn, Alf from Bilancia, and us.

Saturday, we helped Tracy rebuild a raw water pump – we are getting good at this.   

Rebuilding the water pump 

Dean went up the mast, and installed the new lazy jacks.   Kris took off the jib cover to start working on modifying it, as it doesn’t fit the new jib quite right.

We will be here until our new hot water tank comes in, and we can get it installed.

 

2023-07-30 From sleepy New England Stonington to Busy crowded Newport

We got to Fishers Island early Sunday morning, as the museum Kris wanted to see was only open from 11 to 12.   We arrived in plenty of time, after motoring over from Enders Island.

"Small" home on the point near Enders Island

The Henry L. Ferguson Museum was small, but since we were the only people waiting for it to open, we got the grand tour, with 1/2 talk on the history of the island, the people that have owned it, and other information from the docent, who also lives on the island, and whose family was part of the group of the last owners.  Kris new about the marina because of their Osprey WebCam she found last year.  

Nice sculpture outside museum

Museum has small trail walk with froggy and turtle filled pond

Inside museum

After the museum, we headed back to the boat, where it was surprisingly rolly with boat traffic.   

It calmed down at night and in the morning so early next morning Dean jumped in and started to clean the bottom of the boat which had a surprising amount of waterline scum.

After the cleaning we decided to move, and  headed over to Stonington, CT. which was only a few miles away.

Stonington has a small anchorage area, but nice dinghy dock, and is kind of a sleepy little town with a few tourists, but mostly locals.

The wind was calm so Kris decided to work under the boat on a sealing project.

Knee bracing was critical to hold the kayak in position while working

After the work, we walked up to get ice cream, and enjoyed seeing all the different homes and architecture.

Old lighthouse and now museum - we didn't go in ($10 each - rather have ice cream)

Nicely kept up old home

Quite the different style of home from the previous photo

We thought maybe old church - but it is a private residence.

Someone important lived here once

Not all the homes in the best shape - quite the lean on this one

Beautiful gate

We decided to leave the next day for Newport, as the winds were going to build to over 20, and we did not want to sail in that.  We made the right choice and had a beautiful sail up to Newport, RI.  

Scenery along the way to Newport.  Nice lighthouse and "small homes"

I don't know how we do it, but always manage to end up in Newport during the Folk Festival, which is held at Fort Adams, and draws large crowds, and lots of boats.  Watching boats is fun, but makes the anchorage difficult.

Fun watching boat traffic

Harbor gets crowded

We found a nice spot next to another Manta - Osprey.  Met Will, who is a new owner and had a nice chat with him.    It was time for a walk to get some groceries.  Kris wanted to walk by the Umbrella Sky display.  More impressive in the write up than in person.

Pretty to look at

Will had recommend a stop on our way to the grocery store at Aardvark Antiques, so we took his advice and did a quick stop.  It is an amazing store with more sculptures and yard art than you can count.

Looks perfect for your average suburban home

Quite an eclectic mix

Swordfish, frogs, flying dogs, and more

Inside is just as amazing

Quite the place, with quite the mix of items.

After our Aardvark Antique store detour, we did our shopping at the Walmart and Stop and Shop groceries, and back to boat.

Some strong north winds were predicted, and Kris was nervous as we would have a rock breakwater behind us when the wind shifted, so we moved to a new spot, which looked great.  We watched a couple of boats drag while the winds built, and then around 9:00 they shifted to the north, and we found ourselves too close to a boat that was now behind us.   Since they were they first - we had to move, and of course it started to dump rain.  So we upped anchor and tried to find a new spot in a very tight anchorage while the rain was pouring and it was dark.   Could not find anything we were happy with, so after our third attempt - we gave up and headed to a new anchorage about a mile north.   Spent a very lumpy night, but no danger of hitting another boat.   Oh Well - that's boat life.

We will stay in Newport a couple more days, and then spend some time exploring more of Narraganset Bay.

 

2023-03-19 Pipe Creek snorkeling and walks, Black Point SSCA Gam and Manta get together

We stayed a few more days at Pipe Creek, went snorkeling with Jason and Monica from Breathe, and walked the beaches with Breathe and Aaron, Julie and dog Piper from Turnerbout

Some nice large brain corals

Interesting clumps of corals and fishes

This goat seemed very curious about us, but eventually ran away when it spied the dog

Large crashing waves on the east side beaches

This little guy wasn't very afraid

Beautiful moon rise

After a couple more days at Pipe Creek, including a Pi day, 3/14, celebration on Breathe, where Monica made up apple pie and ice cream (sooo good) to celebrate Pi day, we headed south for the Black Point SSCA Gam, and Manta gathering.

Lorraine's café hosts the SSCA Gam  SSCA website .   Basically a bunch of cruisers get together for a fun time, with a nice buffet dinner at Lorraine's restaurant, and then two days of afternoon music, food and beach activities.   We went to the buffet, had a good time, and did one afternoon of beach activities.

We also had a Manta catamaran lunch, with 5 of us Manta owners there (Charm, Breathe, Imagine, Sea Seeker, and  Green Envy (power cat))   

Full anchorage at Black Point

Fun beach activities and socializing

Monica and Jason participating in one of the many games - egg races

Kris joined in on the games, and at the end of the event they even gave out trophy's.

Kris's trophy

It has been a fun 3 days, but it is time to move on, now the festivities are over.

This morning woke up to heavy rain.  Nice to have, it has been a couple of months now without rain it seems.

Cloudy rainy morning - filled the water tanks, and got the boat rinsed off

Our niece Lindsey gave us a nice surprise, and is flying into Staniel Cay, where we will pick her up, and get to spend a few fun days with her, before dropping her off in Nassau, where she will spend a week on a dive boat.  So this coming week should be good fun spending time with Lindsey.