It looks like a B&W picture, but it's just indicative of the grayness of the day on Wednesday..  

Vero Beach has a great system of free buses that makes it easy to head either to the beach or across the bridge into town.  The first stop is right between a Publix and West Marine.  We took the 11:45 bus and found that it went to the beach first, so we had the grand tour before getting to the shopping area!  I didn't need Publix, but found a TJ Maxx right next door and found a Yoga mat.  I did my 10 minute Yoga when we got back!  

The dinghy dock at Vero Beach is always full of interesting dinghies, from all over the world.  We found the municipal park next to the marina allows dogs to run free, so we took Dory and her frisbee for a little exercise.  She did really well playing with a standard poodle and two other big dogs without yapping at all!  On the way back to the boat we went past a little runabout with a pertinent name...

Thursday morning we cast off from our neighbors at sunrise for the trip to Lake Park Marina in North Palm Beach.  Dan had changed the belt on the alternator Wednesday afternoon because it showed a little wear.  Well we were barely under the Vero bridge when I noticed the Tach dropped to zero. Luckily we had the wind and current behind us, so we cut the engine and drifted while Dan tightened to belt.  Unfortunately we had to repeat the procedure several times, eventually rolled out the jib while he continued to work on the belt.  The belt  finally seemed to be tight enough and we continued on our way. 

As we traversed Hobe Sound, famous for elegant homes we passed the 1000 mile marker for the ICW.  We decided the flag pole at this house marked the spot.

Deja vu!  We arrive at Lake Park Marina, get the same slip as three years ago and have dinner with the Pekabu III crew, Pete and Kathy Bruzik and their friends Howie and Ann.  The four of them are heading off on a cruise together and Pete and Kathy drove down from Delaware to join up with Howie and Ann.  

We signed up for two days at Lake Park luckily because Dan woke up this morning nauseated with a strong stitch in his lower back.  He tried to ignore it, changed the oil in the engine, changed out the alternator belt again, but finally decided he needed to see a doc.  We took a cab to Urgent Care and while Dan was seeing the PA there, I finally reached Tessie Hinckley, who lives a few miles from here, and she came over to catch up while I was waiting for Dan.  The diagnosis was a possible kidney stone!  Hopefully it won't be too painful if it passes.  We'll see what tomorrow brings. ~~~_/)~~~M&D

Here's Dan's view of the Bridge of Lions as we left St. Augustine.

We made it to Halifax Harbor in Daytona a little after 4 pm (Sunday) and Dan immediately began to dis-assemble the dinghy engine.  He had tried to start it after I had spent Saturday afternoon scrubbing it down and wasn't able to pull the cord at all.  It took a lot of elbow grease and he put in new spark plugs.  Lo and behold it started!  He's not sure what made the difference...

The ginormous buildings out at Cape Canaveral were in view for most of our trip.

Monday morning we fueled up and headed out, hoping to make Titusville where they have added a mooring field since our last visit.   We arrived right at 5 pm and took a mooring ball.  Dory was anxious for a trip to shore, so we headed right in.  She managed to hold it all day, but made sure she emptied well while we were ashore!  

Dan captured his "girls" sitting on the rail when we returned to Brunelle.

 Dan discovered this iPad bracket that makes it possible for us to have our Garmin Blue Charts app open on the iPad with all the Active Captain information about shoaling and anchoring spots as well as reviews of marinas available right next to the chart plotter.  It does drain the battery, but we have a 12 volt plug available nearby.

Luckily for Dory our forward most panel on the enclosure is usually open and she can still  maintain her favorite post - - - watching for channel markers that just might attack us.


Tuesday morning brought a rain shower, but it cleared enough for us to take Dory ashore to have a run in the dog park that is right next to the Titusville Municipal Marina.  She chased her frisbee relentlessly and enjoyed racing around with the only other dog who was visiting the park.

We were back aboard and ready to head for Vero Beach by 9 am.  Radar had shown a line of rain showers that threatened, but it looked like most of it would miss us.

As we passed under the new 65' bridge just south of the Titusville Marina, the sky didn't look very friendly...

We made it to Vero Beach without getting more than a few drops of rain on us in spite of the ominous look of the skies on and off throughout the day.  The office at Vero closes at five, but they gave us our mooring assignment and told us to settle up in the mooring.  Most of the moorings have two boats on them and we rafted with a boat from Annapolis!    

Also known as Velcro Beach because so many people "stick it out" here, we'll stick for another day.  We're off to take the shuttle across the bridge to town for an adventure. ~~~_/)~~~M&D