Stuck in Velcro Beach

Well, the nickname for Vero Beach (Velcro Beach) is proving very accurate.   We arrived here December 1 with the plan to reconnect with friends, see the city, reprovision and then scoot to the Bahamas.   We've done the first 3 but the scooting to the Bahamas is proving elusive.   Just a couple obstacles to our escape:  we had credit card fraud and the Credit Union shut our card down when they detected the fraud.   We discovered the fraud when some automatic payments we send to the card were rejected and the vendors e-mailed us (don't ask me why the credit card company didn't e-mail us).   So we ordered a new card and then the fun started.   The credit card company would not issue a new card until we filled out a fraud report. Fine, I said, please e-mail it to me.   Oh no ma'am, we have to mail it to your home address.  Ok.....I explained that we have a mail service that will forward our mail to us but obviously there is a time delay.   Can't we get a new card in the meantime?   No can do!  So we wait and get the fraud report form and mail it back around Thanksgiving.   When we arrived in Vero, we checked our mail and there were 2 envelopes from the Credit Union.   The mail service scans the envelopes so you can see who sent you mail.   Then they will either open and scan the contents or forward the mail to you.  We have them mailed to us in Vero but neither contained a new credit card!    A phone call revealed that the new card was indeed sent to us at our home address but the Post Office will not forward envelopes with Credit Cards so it got sent back to the Credit Union (gee-didn't I already explain to them that our mail was being forwarded?).   So bottom line, we had to change our official address for our credit card accounts to the marina in Vero so they could send the card directly here.   In the meantime, it was looking like there would be a weather window to the Bahamas next week so we paid to have the card Fed Exed.   Ummmmm....still don't have it.....where is it?    Still working on the answer to that so stay tuned.  

However, checking the weather today, the window to the Bahamas next week has pretty much slammed shut.   This is the portion of the trip where you sail east from Florida, crossing the Gulf Stream and then onto the Bahamas Banks.   The Gulf Stream runs north between 3-4 knots of speed in an northerly direction so it tends to push the boat north too; even if you are crossing at a 90 degree angle.   Typically, you aim southeast before going east.   When there is a north wind blowing onto the Gulf Stream (therefore wind direction against the current), the waves get rough very quickly so we are looking for a southerly component to the wind.    We use a weather service on the single sideband radio and also check several sites on the internet.   One great program on the internet (www.passageweather.com) shows you wind and waves and animates the display for the next few days.   Here is a picture of the wind direction and speed for a typical day next week.  The tail of the flag (looks like an F) shows the direction of the wind and the color indicates velocity.   Twenty-five to thirty knot winds from the northeast would create a quite challenging and uncomfortable passage across the gulf stream so we will wait.  

The predictions for everyday do not look like this but the general pattern for next week shows building winds from the wrong direction. And as we all know, weather predictions are only predictions. We can't count on the wind arriving exactly when passageweather.com says it will. A little early, a little late....one might say it's all in the numbers. You can say that unless you are out in a forty foot boat in the Gulf Stream and then it becomes a little more real than numbers. So, we will wait until the weather pattern is a little less "colorful" and a little more southerly. We like to see southerly winds and small waves (under 5') that are predicted to last for 2-3 days before we attempt the approximate 24 hour crossing.  

In the meantime, there are lots of things to do to occupy ourselves in Vero.  When in Florida.......