Vero Beach

 

I did it!  I woke at 4am and never fell back asleep so I was on deck when the shuttle took off at 515am, as scheduled.  Pretty cool.  We were too far to hear anything and there were clouds that blocked most of the assent, but very hard to miss in the black of the morning.

Then during coffee - splishing and splashing.  Dozens and dozens of dolphins feeding on the fish in our little area.

                                                                    First they herd the fish.

                                                            Then the pelicans help eat the fish.

                                                Then they chase the fish under our boat.

                                                        Back and forth, both sides of the boat.

                                                                            Showing off her belly.

                                                            More circling.

                                                                Goodbye!
Quite the show and an awesome way to spend the morning.  (Even though my coffee went cold!)

The 6 mile ride to Vero Beach was easy.  We arrived just after "check out" time.  We filled our water tank and off loaded our bikes at the fuel dock before heading to the mooring field.  Vero is very popular and we were assigned ball #14 and instructed to raft next to a catamaran, Duet.  So we learned a new skill.  Pulling parallel to another boat and tying tight to their cleats - uncomfortable.  But we managed just fine.  Other than my dropping a fender in the water and having a fellow sailor jump in his kayak and save it - there were no errors!  But boy were they surprised when they returned from their outing and found us piggybacked on the mooring ball.  Apparently during even busier times they have 3 boats raft together.  Sounds sketchy!


After a quick lunch - bicycle ride! 
                                Beautiful neighborhoods with minimal traffic until we found A1A.  




Vero Beach - stunning.  Low 70s and sunny - perfect for riding the less than 3 miles to the shore.

                 The bike rack at the marina - super full.  We wound up attaching to a sign post nearby.  

Nice clean showers with plenty of hot water - thumbs up.  

Gorgeous sunset with fingers crossed the noisy traffic calms down.  Last night we could hear nothing!  Our direct neighbors on Duet have unloaded and are spending the night on land somewhere.  





                                       


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