Cocoa to Vero Beach

Sunday December 12^th we had a calm morning anchored near the village of Cocoa, a calm before the storm, or so they say. The wind started to pick up at 10am. We had coffee on Chautauqua and felt the gusts come through. We took our dinghy back to our boat before the rain came and the wind got any stronger. We were safely inside when the boat shuddered as the first of the north winds came through. I looked out and to my horror watched as the wind picked up our dinghy and turned it right over, motor and all!!! Ahhhh. We ran out and turned the dinghy over with the help of another gust of wind. But the damage had been done, our faithful outboard motor was in the salt water for about 10 or so seconds. We took it off in panic and then my dad told us to try to start it. I read in the manual that we had to put oil in various places and made sure it was dry. Sal pulled and pulled with no luck. We took the cowling off the engine and looked around. It didn’t seem overly wet, but we found out that there was no spark, so either the coil is not working or the spark plug is not working (we think?). We didn’t have a replacement spark plug to rule that out, so we put oil in it, and sprayed it with WD40 in hopes to prevent any corrosion. Sigh, never a dull moment unfortunately.

We spent the following day in Cocoa as it was still very gusty and the temperature was dropping quickly. We went ashore and looked around in the village. Lots of gift shops and antiques and crafts. We listened to the weather as another hard free warning for the area. We had a cold night, we didn’t get up too early, but even at 9am, it was still I’m sure below freezing. We had a cold sail 20 miles to Melbourne, where we anchored behind the bridge. It was the first time I had heard Sal complain about the weather, even my dad said that he was tempted to buy a plane ticket to Jellyby road. He said that it was probably colder there, but at least he could get the house warm with the fires going.

On Wednesday December 15^th we motor sailed the 30 miles to Vero Beach. This is a very popular spot for cruisers and is nicknamed Velcro Beach because once you come here, you tend to stay longer than planned. We had planned to stay for 2 nights, but 4 nights later… we’re still here. We’re here partly because we’re waiting for the spare spark plugs that we’ve ordered, and because my parent’s haven’t been able to patch their dinghy without it leaking. We want to have everything fixed before we make the cross over to the Bahamas. There is a free bus that takes us around the city. The weather has finally warmed up and we’re in shorts and t-shirts again!! Yay.

Currently there is a window to cross over to the Bahamas, the winds are light and from the South. The window is closing this evening, so we’ll have to wait for another opportunity. It’s too rough to cross in any kind of north wind or winds over 15 knots so we’re now playing the waiting game. Some people have to wait for months to cross, and last year many people never made it across… so we’ll just be patient and see what comes our way.

Today (Dec 18^th) is my dad’s birthday so we are had a small celebration this evening. Mom and I made a cake and we were extra nice to him today.