Coconut Point anchorage to Red Gazebo anchorage, Vero Beach. Distance: 25 nm/Time: 5 hrs
I woke up to a beautiful, sunny, 78-degree day! With now a fully-functional engine, I planned to get to Vero Beach only 25 miles away. I had heard that it was a cruising stomping ground so thought I’d check it out. What would have been the best anchorages there were taken up with large city-managed mooring fields.
As previously mentioned, I didn’t want to deal with trying to raft up to two other boats on a mooring ball, so researched other anchorages in the immediate area. The only ones seemed to be a couple small ones north of the mooring fields and one south of a waterfront restaurant called Red Gazebo anchorage. That one seemed most convenient since it was New Year’s Eve and I thought it would be fun so celebrate there if I could get into that anchorage and deploy my dinghy in time. There was also a public dinghy dock nearby.
Although it was only a 5-hour trip, I wanted to get there mid-afternoon both to have time to set up the dinghy and outboard, and to arrive beat the rush to the anchorage. I also wanted to ensure that I had time to continue further south to alternate anchorages should Vero Beach’s prove full. So, I departed just before 9 am.
With moderate winds forecast to be out of the west all day, I decided to motorsail for at least a while. But before putting up sails, I wanted to test the engine’s cooling system one more time before entering the narrow part of the ICW, and so just motored for the first 15 minutes. Then, just before entering the narrow part of the ICW, I set the mizzen and Genoa, which increased my speed from 5.5 knots to 6.5 (with occasional 7 knots in wind gusts). I had forgotten how much more stable boat is under sail! So, the boat was more stable, I was going faster, and the boat looked very pretty. In fact, as I sailed down the ICW, I noticed more than once people in other boats waving and taking photos of Serendipity! So, it was fun and fast, but also exhausting!
The ICW in this stretch isn’t a straight shot, but makes 10 to 30-degree changes back and forth as it zig-zags south. At each turn, I’d have to leave the wheel, trim the Genoa, move forward past the cockpit to observe the Genoa’s telltales, then often run back and retrim, then recheck. I’d also usually have to tweak the helm during this process as the unbalance until the sails were retrimmed would want to send the boat out of the channel. Then I’d have to trim the mizzen. We were on a close-reach, so the Genoa trimming was rather arduous. So all in all, fun and exciting in the warm sun, with the boat healed over, making very good time, people talking photos and waving, but also quite tiring.
In fact, three hours of that was about all I could take, which worked out well since the ICW would soon start making even more drastic turns–some directly into the wind–for the last couple of hours into Vero. So, just prior to that point, I located a little “shoulder” off the ICW that would allow me to turn into the wind for quick minute to douse the sails, hopefully without going aground. In the end, the sails did drop an hour from the day’s travels.
I arrived about at the Red Gazebo anchorage around 1 pm and found the it already pretty full. There was a small corner of it that I thought I might be able to squeeze into, and indeed I was, but it took a few tries to get into the right position where I would have enough scope with the winds and current, yet not swing into the channel, into the shallows, or into the other boats.
I was finally done around 1:35 pm and immediately set about deploying the dinghy and its outboard. I was evidently getting better at this; I had it in the water, all set up and ready-to-go by 3 pm. (Of course, launching it is much quicker and easier than recovering it.)
I felt in a celebratory mood because it was such a beautiful day, the sailing had been fun, I had found space in the anchorage, it was New Year’s Eve, and I finally didn’t have any agenda; if I liked it here, I would stay for as long as I wanted! So, I jumped in the dinghy and headed over to the Riverside Cafe.
I got an outside seat in the warm sun (and where I could see Serendipity!), had a burger and a beer, then decided to explore the park next to the restaurant that included the Red Gazebo, after which the anchorage is named, and which serves as a visual checkpoint coming into the anchorage. It was a very pretty park and included an outdoor stage where free concerts were held on the weekends. The Gazebo was very cute and would have provided a good photo op for Serendipity if the sun hadn’t been directly behind her.
By this point I was actually getting hot (yippee!), so I returned to the boat, dropped the swim ladder, and jumped in the water for a minute or two. It was a bit cold, but refreshing. There is a big difference between 70-degree water and 60-degree water! Feeling very refreshed and satisfied on all levels, after a quick cockpit shower I decided an afternoon nap was in order before the evening’s festivities so crashed for an hour or so.
Later, I dinghied back to the Riverside Cafe for dinner and live music. Despite the nap, I was still tired from the day’s activities and excitements, so only lasted until 10 pm. I returned in the dinghy, able to test my new solar-powered tricolor light which mounts to the engine cover. (It worked great!)
Before finally going to sleep, I contemplated 2024. I was actually glad it was ending. It has been a very stressful year for me. In fact, thinking back on the “bad” years in my life, I rated 2024 as the third worst–as far as how miserable I felt most of the time. Some of it was because there was o much to learn, so much work, so many uncertainties, including financial. And, admittedly, a lot of it was attitude. In many ways I had to face things about myself which I had previously been able to make excuses for or distract myself from. But, when you’re living with just yourself for months at a time, certain traits and patterns become undeniable and have to be dealt with. As many have said before, the hardest thing to face is yourself. So, that was a large part of what 2024 was about. And it wasn’t fun.
But, this night I felt like things were finally coming together. Cruising tasks had become more routine, easier, and less stressful. I was also a bit more confident in my mechanical abilities (especially with regards to the engine). For the first time I wasn’t running away from the heat & hurricanes or trying to get up north before it got too cold, or running away from the cold, or trying to get to Ohio. I now had nothing looming short of next year’s hurricane season which was six months away. I could stay in Vero Beach for six months if I liked it, or leave tomorrow. I could go to the Keys, or go to the Bahamas, or just wander around. I really felt like 2025 was going to be a much better year than 2024, and so for the first time in a long time, the New Year’s celebration actually had meaning for me.
Tomorrow, I would explore a bit more of Vero Beach. At least what I could on New Year’s Day.