Feels Like (Yet Another) Home

Vero Beach, Florida

 

I've been through this before. Long time blog readers have too. Where is our home? Whatever the answer to that, Vero Beach feels like home. I could walk around much of this city at night, blindfolded, without stubbing my toe.

 

Yesterday we got into a real mess on the Saint Lucie Canal. We came to the end of the canal behind a tug pushing two barges. But the lock seemed to be jammed up. It seems that another tug pushing two other barges in the other direction arrived earlier in the day. It pushed one of the barges into the lock, then backed off. The barge was so big, that nothing could fit in the lock with it.

 

So the lock lifts the barge. What now? There was no way to get the barge out of the lock. On the Erie Canal, locks have powerful electric windlasses that can pull vessels without a tug boat. If they had one here, it wasn't working. Apparently, the barge had been in the lock most of the day. There was a huge backup of boats on the other side waiting to get through.

 

Finally the tug in front of us agreed to help. But it would take a half day to do all the maneuvers before it would be our turn. We gave up, and pulled into a slip at the Corps of Engineers Camp Site which happened to be right there.

 

Today, was a fine day on the water. We feared heavy holiday boat traffic near the Saint Lucie inlet, but traffic was light.

 

We'll stay in Vero just a few days to do errands, and to buy clothes for the coming year, then we'll head north. Ideally, we'll be able to go out to sea at Fort Pierce and go nonstop to North Carolina. But the chances of the weather cooperating that much are slim. We'll see.

 

By the way. Vero is a very rich town. The Salvation Army/Goodwill/consignment shops here are excellent. I joke that Vero has the only Goodwill with a Gucci section. We buy all our clothes here. Amazing bargains.

 

Both Libby and I need new glasses. We'll get our eye tests here, order online at zenni optical, and have them shipped to Dave & Cathy in North Carolina.