We have been in Vero Beach Fl now for just over two weeks.  Let me recount our return from the Bahamas first and then bring you up to the present and have a look into the next season for us.

After we said goodbye to Andrew and Amy we began the journey north up the Exuma Chain of Islands.  We hit a couple of places along the way that we missed on our way down, notably Stanial Cay and Compass Cay.   Pigs, Caves, Sharks etc.

One of the things that has become clear is that not many people actually live in the Exumas other than Black Point and Georgetown.

Many of the other places are really just Marinas for mega yachts and extremely expensive.

 

To change things up a bit we decided to go into Nassau for a couple days to see where most of the people actually do live.

I met the Bishop of the Bahamas while I was there and got some insight into the nature of the church.   I am impressed with the overall health and ministry of this part of the Anglican family.

 

Our plan was to sail from Nassau to Mackie Shoal, and then to Bimini,and then finally to Ft. Lauderdale.   Due to circumstances beyond our control (weather),  29 hours after we left Nassau we pulled into Lake Sylvia in Ft Lauderdale.   The weather was mostly great….except for the last hour, when we found ourselves under a thunder cell.    Rain and Wind.

 

The next day we moved up to West Palm and picked up Stan and Susan, Val’s cousin.    We then traveled up the ICW as far as Stuart where we enjoyed a Cruisers Pot Luck and live music.     The final leg to Vero happened the next day.

Vero Beach is known by cruisers as Velcro Beach.   I asked one cruiser when he got back from the Bahamas and he said in less than a month it would be one year!    It really is a great place and I could totally understand someone sailing down from Canada and just stopping here for the winter.   Everything you need is here.

While here we have seen Aligators, Manetees, Pigs, Baseball, Willie Nelson and eaten a lot of Strawberries.

See our FB posts for details and pics

We are heading back over to Tampa on Tuesday to attend a conference about Seafarers sponsored by the North American Maritime Ministry organization.   When we return we will begin to move the boat North again.   Out plans are to stop in a few places that have some history to absorb, notably St Augustine, Savannah, and Charleston again.