Memorial Weekend Cruise
Marker 21 Capt Harlem's Vero Beach Municipal Marina
We planned a trip to Vero Beach over the Memorial Day Weekend. It would be 35 miles one way from Indian Harbour Beach to Vero Beach on the ICW.
We left on a beautiful Sunday morning with the wind from the south at 5 knots. Sailing was not possible so we motored the whole way down.
Pam and I took turns at the helm while the other was on watch for jet skis, big wave making power boats and general holiday water madness. On long motoring stretches, I lay the wooden seat from the Achilles across the cockpit for a make-shift helm chair. Works fine and I don't have to mount it.
The ICW channel from Indian Harbour Beach to Vero is about 50ft wide with an average depth of 10 ft. If you wonder out of the channel you could be in 2' of water real fast. (Did to - Been there!) We used the Auto Pilot from Dragon Point to marker 20 south, but the rest of the way was all manual. The channel was just to close to navigate for that old Data Marine.
Marker 21/22 is just South of Palm Bay. It's a favorite anchorage of sailors on the weekends. When the spoil islands were formed as a result of dredging the ICW, the area around marker 21/22 as well as two or three islands, were dredged out to about 8'. Makes a great place to drop anchor up close to the small islands. You do have to study the maps for this area because long sand bars
can extend out from the islands to the west.
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Proceeding south you encounter the local hang-out of Capt Hiram's. Good food and music from this restaurant just off of US1 in Sebastian. There was a lot of weekend activity here and surprisingly some sailboats over 40' in this rather shallow water.
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Needless to say many parts of this section are "No Wake Zones," but as you can see by the picture below, there are exceptions if you have a power boat mentality. We just wave and wonder how much $ it takes to fill up the fuel tank.
We arrived at Vero Beach Municipal Marina around 3 in the afternoon and moored beside several cruisers that were headed South to the islands or North for the summer months (Snowbirds).
After 6 hours on Mikhaya we were anxious to stretch our legs and explore. Before we left the boat we broke out the hatch sail, set up the solar panels on the Bimini, mounted the outboard on the Achilles and headed out.
The Dingy Dock at Vero Beach offered a good safe protection for the dingy.
Vero Beach is know for its great old Live Oaks with tropical air plants. The marina grounds are covered in them. The welcome shade they give makes the 90+ weather just bearable. The marina is located on the barrier island side of Vero.
We started off the next day at sunrise by jogging the bridge and exploring the oak lined back roads. Great view from the Vero bridge looking North and South.
After breakfast I was determined to raise some flags in honor of Memorial Day. I put up every flag I had on board. I only had a string long enough for the forestay. The neighbors of course, out did me.
The wind changed to the west and we had a nice breeze for the better part of the morning. We met most of our neighbors coming and going in dinghies. While out explored we came across the perfect "get-a-way," house.
After lunch we headed to the beach (a 20 minute walk from the marina) to spend the afternoon. We made it back to the boat just in time for the afternoon showers. The rain cooled things down just enough and washed off the deck of Mikhaya. We had plenty of fresh water on board so I didn't need to catch any. The sun came back out in an hour and the view of the sunset great.
This was our last night in Vero and we wanted to eat out at the Riverside Cafe. The cafe (1/4 mile away by water) is a local stop for cruisers. The food was good and music was loud. On the way over in the Achilles we came across some dolphins feeding in the shallows (more on dolphins later).
Recently there has been a lot of email on the Sailnet Pearson New Group about mosquito screens and netting. This is a picture of what worked for us while in Vero. The netting (Sailrite©) goes completely over the Bimini and drapes down on the sides and front without restraints. The netting mesh is fine enough to stop those killer "No See-Ums." The deck hatches had a similar netting material that was cut to size. A small chain is sewn into the material base to hold it down over the open hatch. You can just make it out in the picture. The bottom line...no mosquitoes or other critters all night.
The next morning we checked out, started the engine and headed back north. After we got underway we had breakfast and cleaned up the cabin.
While on the way I experimented with different ways to tow the Achilles behind Mikhaya. Usually I pull the outboard and tow it on one of the stern cleats just off-set from the engine wet exhaust port. As we were underway, I pulled it up along side to get the seat board out and I noticed that it seemed to surf much easier on the starboard wake of Mikhaya. This seemed to work only if the waters are calm.
Wildlife
Speaking of wildlife, as an added treat this friend joined us on the port side for about two miles. I guess he felt sorry for us going only 6 1/2 knots. We did see another dolphin surfing the waves of a sailboat in Vero. He put on a great show and we were sorry to see him go.
On the last leg of our weekend trip (between the Melbourne and Eau Gallie causeways) I broke out the Pearson Banner for port side viewing. My older son Matt, has picked this up in New Hampshire last summer while teaching at a sailing camp. I had to put it up just in case anyone at work happened to be watching the river and wondering why I wasn't working.
Great weekend all around. Total distance: 70 miles, ~10 gals of fuel, 12 hrs of motoring on calm ICW waters, used 30 gals of water (hot days & cold showers), $7/night at Vero Marina and most important...no boat problems and zero boat bucks!
28 May 03 |
