Vero Beach, Florida is known in cruising circles as "velcro beach" with good reason. White Pepper has been on a mooring ball at the Vero Beach Marina for 12 days now and we will leave reluctantly tomorrow. Life is easy here. The buses are free and make shopping convient. A lovely beach and park is within walking distance. The anchorage is well protected. The laundry works well. There is much bonhomie among the cruisers.
We had been telling ourselves that everything would be warm and well if we could just get to Vero. We have had some mild days but most of the nights have been very cold. In fact last night (12-29-10 3 am) set a low record for this day at 28 degrees F. Thankfully, a warming trend is forecast for the next month. White Pepper does not have a heater. We spend lots of time in bed sometimes 11 or 12 hours every night. Body heat, snuggling, and warm PJs keep us comfortable. I do feel sorry for the singlehanders here this week. I have discovered that the key to comfort is making the perfect "snow hole." By wrapping the covers carefully around the face it is possible to just leave the nose exposed--a snow hole.
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were warm and mild. We received a large mail drop with many cards and gifts from the family. Thanks to everyone. The cruisers organized a pot luck for the afternoon. There was more food than all 60 of us could eat. Then we had a long walk to the beach to walk it off.
A curiosity at Vero Beach is that boats are expected to raft up on the mooring balls. We are rafted up with Scrimshaw a Legend 45 owned by Basil Carter and wife Daniela Tartau. We have become good cruising buddies. Both boats are headed south tomorrow (12-30-10) towards Fort Lauderdale. A weather window is shaping up for next week. Hopefully, we will be able to cross over to Port Lucaya, Bahamas then.
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