Last night, the bridge was beautiful as the backdrop for our mooring.
Vero Beach Bridge at night
And, yes, we stayed the second day here at Vero Beach. First off, the engine oil needed changing. That got done-but the Fram oil filter was too long to fit between the coolant hose and the block. I cleaned up the Westerbeke filter and put it back on (temporarily until a new one can be sourced).
We needed to do a bag of laundry. And I needed to review our charts showing the bridges that are coming over the rest of our travel.
We showered before doing all of the laundry so that our dirty clothes could be part of the last load. Diann stayed with the clothes.
Diann doing the laundry
Me, I read a little while and fell asleep, in a chair, under a tree.
Moss on the trees at the marina
We ended our day at Riverside Café by taking our Gemini catamaran’s dinghy over to the cafe’s guest docks.
Guest docks make visiting by dinghy an easy choice for local boaters
They have a good variety of fare. Diann had a chicken wrap that was so large she brought half back to the boat. My fish and chips dish was plentiful and about as good as fish and chips typically are.
Fish & Chips and Chicken Wrap at Riverside Cafe’
In order to be ready to leave early, the dinghy was raised on the davit system. Believe it or not- it takes a full 30 minutes to prepare, raise, and secure that little boat.
Tonight I used a double boiler to stove-top cook brownies. The lid kept the dough too moist, so it turned out like moist fudge. Next time I’ll try without the lid on for the full time. “Chocolate plop” tastes pretty good.
Reflecting on the Velcro Beach nickname for Vero Beach- I began to understand why folks get here and stay. The temperature has been warm, the pace is lazy, there’s as much city amenities as one would typically desire. The mooring fee is under $14 a day- and that includes hot showers, a large coin laundry, a social lounge with microwave and coffee maker, book swap library, dedicated fresh water dock (so you don’t have to carry water jugs), mail and package delivery to the marina office (using your boat name as the primary sorting tool), and a cordial interaction of all the boaters who are enjoying the facility. Add to that, the free bus fare- to the beach, or major shopping centers.
Gemini Catamaran, Yacht A Fun, at Vero Beach City Marina Mooring Field