Cocoa Beach

Melbourne Marina was a good place to stop for the night.  It is a tightly-run marina and pretty much a one-man operation.  Don't expect to be greeted with a smile or hustle, but once you finally get in and get tied and plugged in you can be sure to get a good night's rest.

Our cruise from Melbourne to Cocoa Village Marina was a straight shot north in smooth water.  Our friends that met us in Melbourne live here and invited us to stay Friday night at their condo.  We had a good visit and caught up on what's going on in their lives while enjoying exploring old town Cocoa and taking long walks along the Atlantic shore.  The food and atmosphere here were just as you would expect, a 10+.  Many Looper boats were found with their white burgees flying, and we got to swap boat cards and meet some new Loopers!

That's the news and here are some views:

We are here

Route from Melbourne to Cocoa Village, FL

Our morning view from our friends, Jeff and Annette's balcony. 

Our long time friends, Jeff and Annette, welcomed us to Melbourne, FL with dinner at Smokey Bones. We all had smoked wings and a great time catching up

 Annette was practicing her photography with her new camera.  We're on board Dash Away with a fellow looper Captain Mike

This is the outside dining area at Ossorio's Bakery and Cafe in Cocoa Village.

What a lovely place to have lunch before we "launched" into shopping. They even have homemade ice cream!  I had the banana caramel nut.  It was a 10!  

A yummy lunch before shopping!  

Travis Hardware in Cocoa Village...established in 1885 and George's description of this store was Hardware Heaven

Breakfast with our little friend

Dinner at Murdock's in Cocoa Village.  The food was delicious.  We started the meal with the traditional Mac and Cheese.  The pasta they use is imported from France and the cheese sauce was  flavor packed.  Everything was housemade.  The guys had a burger called The Southerner which was a burger topped with a fried green tomato slice and a big dollop of pimento cheese.  Annette had cobia, the fresh catch of the day,  and I had an Apple, gorgonzola and walnut salad topped with grilled chicken and honey white balsamic vinaigrette.  I'm going to try and recreate that lucious salad dressing.  We brought a quart of our favorite honey, Sweet Life, along with us so I'll have to find a bottle of white balsamic vinegar and give it a try.

Bentley, we've got to go now :-(

A good ending to the blog today!  Bently Jack, a friendly fellow!

Wind and Water

The anchorage at Fabor Cove in Ft. Pierce was one of the most protected spots we've dropped a hook in, but when Viridian started chasing her anchor at 2 AM, we knew the wind must be blowing hard. And it was.  A cold front passed through and brought with it 15-20 mph sustained winds straight out of the north.  We had planned on cruising to Melbourne with the crew of Dash Away, but the captain texted us this morning and said he was tied on the windward side of the dock between two boats and the wind had pinned him down and he couldn't get Dash Away away.  So we sailed Viridian out from our protected cove, turned north and forced our way 50 miles north to Melbourne Harbor Marina against tidal current and sustained headwinds.  The ride was very smooth since the waves and wind were directly on the bow, but the wind was so strong we had to zip up the panels on the fly bridge (a very rare thing) just so we could hear and stay warm.

Eveaving Ft. Pierce, we sailed through Vero Beach, Sebastian, Palm Bay and finally to Melbourne.  Once we nailed another stern-first docking in Crane Creek and rested up a bit, we met some old friends from our hometown who moved to Cocoa Beach a few years ago to work at the NASA facility.  We spent the afternoon and evening eating at Smokey Bones BBQ and onboard Viridian catching up on all the family news.  Tomorrow we will sail to Cocoa Village Marina and spend the afternoon with our friends at their place.

That's the news and here's some views:

We are here

Ft. Pierce, FL to Melbourne, FL Passage

Along the way

Docked at Melbourne Harbor

Smokey Bones with friends from home!

"OLD" Friends :)

Good Day, Good Water, Good Friends, Good Food and Good Times

We really enjoyed our stay at Sunset Bay Marina in Stuart, FL.  Yesterday we walked into the Old Town section of Stuart and explored all the shops and eateries (ice cream) and took a walk along the fitness path at the water's edge.  Next morning we dinghied the garbage ashore and brought back a 10-lb bag of ice from the Ships Store.  After securing Jazzy on the stern we fired up Viridian, slipped our lines off Red #68 mooring ball and idled out to the channel to call the Old Roosevelt Bascule Lift Bridge to request an opening.  A train was crossing the channel on the track just below the lift bridge so we had to wait for that to clear.  But soon both bridges were opened, and Viridian passed through and turned south for the St. Lucie Inlet to the Atlantic Ocean where we passed last Fall on our way to Key West; this time we turned to port and pointed the bow north.  The water was that perfect viridian color, and for the first time in quite a while we were not sailing directly into the sun.  Our eyes celebrated the squint-free view of our northward bearing, as everything looked sharp and brightly lit by the sun that was now on our stern.

Today's passage took us 31 miles to Ft. Pierce, FL, where we found a nice protected hole called Fabor Cove to drop our hook.  We are sharing this great anchorage with 5 other vessels, none of which are Loopers.  As it turned out, several of our Looper friends were docked just across the channel at Ft. Pierce City Marina, so we contacted them and we all met on board Unruly with the crew of Dash Away and Good Life.  War stories were exchanged at the docktales gathering on Dock A, as we heard of Bahamas Island cruising and the never- ending stories of boat maintenance issues.  We really enjoyed getting back together with some of our Looping mates we haven't seen for months.

As the tide began to turn we said our goodbyes, as it was time for the crew of Viridian to get into our dinghy and make our way back across the channel 2.5 miles to where our ship lay at anchor.  The channel water was pretty choppy but as soon as we entered our cove it flattened out and we glided back to our floating home on the water.

That's the news and here's the views:

We are here

Today's Passage from Stuart, FL to Ft. Pierce, FL

Our well protected anchorage location in Fabor Cove

Early morning in the mooring field at Stuart, FL

Busy, busy, busy at the turnaround at St. Lucie Inlet

This will be our heading for the next few months

Passing northbound sailboats heading home for the summer

Other boats sharing our anchor location

Local wildlife checking us out

Great scenery

"Docktales" with Looper Friends

Evening on the hook

A Long Way to Go and a Long Time to Get There

Viridian left Moore Haven City Docks at first light this morning and passed through the Moore Haven Lock just under the bridge and around the bend.  The starboard lock door would not open, but we had plenty of room to enter.  After the 4-ft lift, Viridian eased through the rising fog along the canal that rims Lake Okeechobee and headed for the channel that eventually crosses the lake.  Alligators were thick as fleas in this area and were slinking along the banks, only to slowly sink out of sight once we got by them.  There were no other vessels in the area, and the springtime bird show was in full chorus, giving us all kinds of calls and tweets as we passed by.

By the time we got to the crossing channel, the fog had lifted, giving way to a bright blue sky.  Large smoke plumes that looked like mushroom clouds lined the distant banks of the lake where sugar cane fields were being burned before harvesting the stalks.  The water on Okeechobee was almost like glass.  There was no wind today, making our crossing extra smooth.

The lock at Port Mayaca on the eastern side of Lake O. was fully open.  The doors on both ends of the lock were open since the water level was the same on both sides of the dam.  We just cruised right through without stopping.  The passage from Port Mayaca to Port St. Lucy, FL up the St. Lucy River was kind of like the Tenn-Tom, pretty remote until we got close to Stuart.

After our 70-mile passage, we found Red # 68 mooring ball that had a proper tether attached to it, and Meg snagged it with one try and had us secured in no time.  We launched Jazzy and putted over to the Ships Store to check in and get the combos to all the facilities, came back to Viridian to eat a bite of supper, then off again in Jazzy to walk the docks looking for other Loopers and checking out the boats docked at Sunset Marina.  We will stay here two nights to get laundry done and see what there is in the town of Stuart, FL.

That's the news and here are a few views.

We are here

Today's passage from Moore Haven, FL to Stuart, FL

Misty morning start leaving Moore Haven Lock

Birds were everywhere

 Smooth sailing on Lake Okeechobee, FL

 Leaving Port Mayaca lock

 View from Port Mayaca to Port St. Lucy, FL

 Hanging on Red # 68 at sunset

Sunset Marina, FL

More Moore Haven

Just "Moore" Views

Dockside Moore Haven, FL

 Dressed for church

 

First Baptist of Moore Haven

Easter Lunch

The Lone Cypress tree that was used as a navigational marker 

Enjoying relaxing on the bow of Viridian.  

April Fool's  ;)