The time has finally arrived, after weeks of work, for us to leave Green Cove Springs and head south to Vero Beach for Christmas. It’s been an eventfully 5 weeks filled with oh so many boat jobs but also some happy hours and dinners with our friends Jane and Steve Holler.
The past few days since my last post have been filled with all the last minute, must be completed jobs. The engine was probably the biggest must be done job. The heat exchangers and other items needed to be painted and then reinstalled. The engine also needed to be run to make sure there were no leaks or other troublesome issues. All tested well and the engine seems quite happy to be put to work.
We had a bunch of storage jobs – taking some of our items to Jane and Steve’s storage unit, cleaning up the temporary garage (the v-berth) and installing the 2 new plastic bins in the engine compartment. These bins now hold all kinds of tools and supplies, freeing up some locker space in the boat. That generator was taking up a lot of space!!
There were other jobs that required computer time and phone calling. We had to get what’s called a permit to proceed. We are a Canadian boat sailing in US waters so we need either a cruising license or a permit to proceed. Basically this permit allows us to be in their water and they are aware of us and our itinerary. We got the permit this afternoon!!! I also spent some time updating the CBS ROAM app. This is another way of clearing into the US (instead of going in person to a CBS office). Today I also made arrangements for our v-berth mattresses to be delivered to Vero Beach. They should be there by the time we arrive and it saves us having to drive back down to Fort Lauderdale.
So around 9am tomorrow (Dec. 16), we’ll be casting off our lines (with the help of Jane and Steve) and making our way down the intracoastal waterway. We’ve planned 5 days, anchoring each night along the route. Unfortunately we won’t have wifi on our journey so the next blog will be from Vero Beach! We’ll miss our friends but are really excited to be moving on the water!!
Crimson Kathryn and her crew 