Waiting on Weather

How time flies! Already we have been swinging on a mooring in Vero Beach for seven days. Yesterday the couples on the two boats sharing our mooring departed south, so now we are the solitary boat on the mooring. Nice.

The sky is dark today. Several times it has opened dumping torrential downpours on the harbor. The wind is howling with gusts to 40 mph. John, Elvis Ann, and I are safe in the salon, enjoying listening to the raindrops pelting the Chariot. Yesterday we moved the boat to pump out our holding tank and fill up our gas tank. And, I washed another 25 pounds of clothes. Before leaving Oriental, we provisioned as if we would be out to sea for four months. So, we have nowhere to be and nothing that must be done. Nice. The tornado watch expires at 5PM. It is 4PM now.

That was strange. I just heard a knock on the side of our boat. Who would be out in this weather? I’m back. It was Bernie from Australia standing up in his RIB in the rain alerting me that they would be rafting up to us and apologizing profusely for their timing. They had been waiting for the storm to pass. However, when it looked like it would never end, they decided they needed to come in for the night. And, they are meeting friends they haven’t seen in 10 years, one of whom has a fatal illness, and they only have a short time together here. So, of course, they needed to get here! I went below to get John. Miraculously, the winds calmed and the rain stopped. I watched as Yvonne, Bernie’s wife, motored their boat gracefully down the channel, passed the port side of the Chariot, around the back and along our starboard side. Although our boat was moving, she settled their boat gently beside us. We helped secure their lines and that was that. The entire evolution took about five minutes. What pros! They are approaching their seventies and have been cruising since their twenties. I can’t wait to hear their stories tomorrow evening! Nice. Yvonne may be my newest hero.

Interestingly, the rain is pouring again.