12/13-12/15 To Vero and into Lake Worth

12/13 Wednesday  It's getting warmer.  It is still chilly at night but we were still able to run from the fly bridge during the day.  There were still plenty of dolphin to see as we cruised to Vero Beach.  Vero is a lovely stop.  We pulled into the Vero City Marina.  The best thing about Vero is my son-in-law, Stephen's mom lives there.  Andi is a lovely person.  After picking up her grandson, Ryan, from school, she came to the marina and took me to Publix.  Andi and Ryan helped me lug the groceries to the boat too.  Andi treated us to dinner at the Citrus Grille.  Dinner was very tasty and well plated.  Andi told us about her family that had lived on Chincoteague Island in Virginia.  Andi had loved the Misty of Chincoteague book, too.  She had also been able to visit during a pony penning.  Andi remembered the movie too.  Of course, we talked about Catherine and Stephen and how they have given us three wonderful grandkids.  After dinner, Andi drove us back to the marina.  We promised to stop in Vero when we head north again.

12/14 Thursday  It is warmer and sunnier.  As we cruised along, we not only saw dolphins, but also manatees.  Getting pictures of dolphin is hard but trying to get pictures of manatees is impossible.  You can see concentric circles where the manatees break the water to breathe. Manatees do not really let their heads protrude, just their nostrils.  We did see a research vessel taking dolphin photos with long lenses.

Although more of Florida is built up along the waterway, there are still miles and miles where the marshes and mangroves are undisturbed.

Finally, we arrived in Lake Worth.  We pulled into Old Port Cove Marina.  This will be where the Hydrophilic stays until after our travels for Christmas.  We will then cross to the Bahamas.  Our Hydrophilic has never looked so small.  Here is the Nicole Evelyn on the other side of the same pier we are on.  It is an 87 foot Hatteras owned by man in NJ who owns a recycling company.  It takes a crew of 7 and has room for 10 passengers on board.  You can rent it for a week during the winter for $950,000.  That does not include expenses!

This is a very nice marina with a restaurant on site, a nice gym, and all the other amenities.

12/15  It was a busy day.  John washed the boat.  I went to the gym and did a workout from Assertive Fitness.  We saw the contrail of the SpaceX launch to the Space Station even this far away from the Space Center. 

There was another tow filled with sunken vessels that have been pulled from the waters.

I was fortunate to get a hair appointment at a Goldwell salon at 1 p.m.   It was in the high 70's as I walked there in shorts.  It is so nice out!!  The flowers were blooming.

The palm trees swayed gently in the breeze and a flock of ibises were feeding. 

On the way home, I stopped at the Italian market for Panettone and at West Marine.  I got the lay of the land so we can get other items done in the coming days and when we get back.