2/11/14 – Start 0920, Finish 1920, From Titusville Fl. to Vero Beach Fl.

2/11/14 – Start 0920, Finish 1920, From Titusville Fl. to Vero Beach Fl.


Weather/Sea – South wind, sunny

Captain - John Kwak

Crew – Dan Martin, Paul Kirk

We first went to the pump out dock and emptied both holding tanks. They hold 40 gallons each and were full. It is the most unpleasant job on a boat.

Then back into the Indian River heading south, follow the dug channel carefully because it is mostly shallow outside the channel. With the wind out of the south east we tried sailing twice but the wind stayed just south of the limits of pointing. The channel is mostly very straight so we motored at 6.6 to 7.0 knots using the Simrad autopilot. We got to Vero Beach in the dark. To get into the Vero Beach Municipal Marina you have to make a sharp turn to port after green buoy 139 and before the fixed bridge. I cut the turn a little sharp and ran into 5 foot depth of soft mud, turned to the bridge side and found the deeper channel.  Dutchess, with her 24” prop and 65 HP diesel, can usually push thru soft mud. Going by flashlight we went from buoy to buoy thru the mooring field to find our assigned buoy #33.  Finally at 1920 we tied off on the mooring ball and could relax. 

Paul Kirk had been cooking the Chicken and rice in Celery cheese soup in the oven for 2 hours so we could eat right away. Good crew, good food, good trip.

On Wednesday 2/12/14, moved to a dock and went shopping for supplies using the Vero Beach free bus. This is a very nice marina, well maintained and landscaped. In fact the entire city is well landscaped.

I plan to stay here for a month in March before heading North again in April.

We went to dinner at bonefish using the free bus. When we got to the restaurant the power was out in the entire area so we could only sit at the bar and drink, no food available. After 1.5 hours and a few drinks the lights came back on and we could order food.

On Tuesday 2/13/14 we planned to sail to Fort Pierce but the West wind was 20 to 25 knots with heavier gusts pushing the boat sideways, and stretching the dock lines very tight.

So I decided it was too hazardous to leave the slip and we are staying here another day. That is boating!