Rafting Up

Rafting Up

Tuesday 16th March 2021

We pulled up our anchor in Fort Pierce Inlet at about 8.45 am, in time for 9 am bridge opening that would allow us to proceed north along the Intra Coastal Waterway (ICW). It only took us a couple of hours to motor up to Vero Beach city marina where we filled up with diesel, washed our decks with fresh water (to clear off all the salt spray from our recent passage) and got directions for “rafting up” on a mooring. The marina is still very busy and there were no empty slips at the dock or free moorings. However, they do allow multiple boats to occupy one mooring. In normal times this could be up to three boats, but because of Covid this is currently limited to two boats. There was a lady on the fuel dock who said we were welcome to come and raft up to their boat. She jumped in her dinghy and went back to their boat “Always Home” and by the time we had finished at the fuel dock Driana and her husband Walter were ready to help us with our lines. We motored across and gently pulled up alongside. This was the first time we have ever rafted up to another boat but Driana and Walter seemed to know exactly what they were doing and in no time we were safely secured to “Always Home” and directly to the mooring. We were very grateful for their help.

After lunch we managed to fit in quick shower (thank goodness!) before Paul and Fran picked us up and took us back to their house. We had a lovely afternoon and evening chatting, watching the America’s Cup and eating a fine dinner of grilled chicken, pasta and broccoli. Now we are back on board looking forward to a good night’s sleep.

It’s been a bit of a stressful day as Sue Breault, Rod’s wife / Gloria’s sister-in-law, had to have surgery this afternoon to remove a benign brain tumor that was identified a couple of days ago. Thankfully, all seems to have gone well and the expectation is that she will make a full and speedy recovery. Sue - we are looking forward to hearing that you are fully recovered and to seeing you soon.

Mike

27 39.509 N, 80 22.272 W

Dinner with Fran and Paul