From Cocoa Beach we (Aaron plus two other boats) left at first light. At some point in the morning the wind went around enough for a close hauled sail so all three boats put some sails in the air. The wind became pretty brisk so I reefed both sails heavily but both Fruit Bat and Walkabout in their heavy Pearson 424s were able to keep full sails flying, even Walkabout's 150% genoa. After a few hours the ICW became more winding so everyone put in their sails, but they both had roller furler jams so had to spend a few minutes figuring those situations out.
They carried on for about ten more miles as I pulled off to stop at the Vero Beach City Marina. I waited for about 15 minutes for the fuel dock to open up and then fueled and arranged for a mooring ball. They assigned me to raft up on ball five with another boat so I prepared the lines and fenders, motored over to my new neighbor, approached nice and slow, and had a successful "docking". I took Louise for a walk to the very nice dog park (and every evening after that!).
I believe the next day was the Monday gathering at Mr. Manatee's for the Seven Seas Cruising Association. I went and mostly talked boats with some people and had a very good burger. I had snacked that afternoon so didn't go for the Colossal Woodrow Burger which is one pound of hamburger plus lots of other things. If you eat it you get a T-shirt, which makes the $19 price a little more worth it. I was still in Vero Beach a week later so went again and did earn the shirt. I should not have also had two one liter beers, as I was in quite some misery for an hour afterwards.
I spent the week there doing some boat projects (clean the brown stains off the hull with lemon juice, coat the hull with wax, put away the remainder of all our goodies from Costco, sew some rips in the mainsail cover, replaced the microwave) and going to a few social events. Also I ordered some miscellaneous things and the supplies for a big project: a replacement bimini + spray dodger + full enclosure. In order to know what to order I had to understand what I was going to be doing so I spent about four hours watching Sailrite how to videos on YouTube. After several more hours of thinking, measuring, and double-checking I placed the order, getting a nice Cyber Monday discount. Just that small part of the project felt like a huge accomplishment!
I also looked around for a used paddleboard. A shop nearby had some used models but they seemed a bit fancy. We ended up buying one from a guy on Facebook Marketplace and he delivered it to the marina.
Anna returned from Minnesota. She flew to Orlando where her aunt and uncle were at a dog show, and her uncle was nice enough to drive her a couple hours down to Vero Beach. I think it was two nights later that we left to go to Stuart.
