Velcro Beach

This is the nickname for Vero Beach. They claim once you are here you do not want to leave and therefore do not. We are velcroed (is that a word?) here due to Oliver's health. Do not get me wrong, it is a lovely city, we have met some wonderful people and the marina is great for dog walking. However, we would like to travel, but Oliver is more important right now.

To update, we went for his health certificate and had his blood work updated. The tests revealed that his creatinine levels for his kidney disease had gone up from 3-4.2. It is exponential, so it is more than one point, but they did not say what is the exponent. Remember math where 2 squared is 4, well it is along those lines. Anyway, we went back to Ft. Lauderdale  to his specialist, Dr. Cannon. We increased his enalapril which could cause more failure or help. She also added a sodium bicarbonate prescription. other meds stayed the same. Then we waited for 2 weeks trying to coax him to eat, take his pills and walk. We went the 10th to update his blood work and his creatinine is now up to 4.6.  We were waiting for the specialist to call and recommend what to do. She was on vacation a week for the first time in ages, so we continued to wait and see. She has since returned and called to keep doing what we are doing. She wants monthly blood tests to see where we stand and if we need to change his meds. He has perked up mostly. The vet said he has "reset" to his new normal.  He is eating more, sometimes takes a good walk and seems happy to meet and greet anyone or anything that goes by on land or sea. Here he is hanging out on the boat.

Every morning I wake up to birds chirping and cawing. They love sailboats so they can roost. Now, think of what comes out of birds. We have found they enjoy eating blueberries. Blueberries stain white boats. So every morning when I hear them I jump out of bed and shake the stays and get them off as quickly as possible. What an alarm clock!

 There are some cool birds here too. These are "White" pelicans Oliver and I saw on one of our walks.

Meanwhile, we decorated a little for Christmas. Remember I only have a shoebox sized plastic container for all my holiday decorations. Also, when you sail, you heel over. I use putty to stick things on walls and counters for that purpose. It is like being a teacher again. So each holiday item I chose to bring are small, mostly unbreakable and somewhat flat. For Christmas, I brought nautical ornaments, Michigan State candy canes, some bows and 2 lights strings. This year we bought some solar lights, since we expected to be at anchor. We also added a evergreen swag for the bow since we are here longer than expected. The neighborhood around the Marina is adding lights each night we go for our evening walk. It is weird without snow, but pretty none the less.

Grand Harbor

Some of the ornaments

The sand dollars from St. John, St. Maarten and St. Thomas.

MSU candy canes

The Treats boat decorated

Merry Christmas!

Anyway, that is where we stand.  We hope to travel soon. Enjoy the season and remember the reason!

Halloween to the present

We are on hold in Vero Beach. The boat is ready for cruising, but alas, Oliver is not. We went to get his health certificate the Bahamas require and had his bloodwork updated. We found out his kidney disease had progressed significantly. We are working through a vet here, but they are taking direction from his wonderful vet internist/specialist we used in Ft. Lauderdale. She is wonderful helping us through this. Her name is Alison Cannon if anyone should ever need her. Anyway, the course of action is to raise his one medicine Enacard, which could cause acute renal failure short term or work for the long term. So far, we have made it 24 hours doing this. We have to monitor him and look for appetite issues and lethargy. We were stunned by the results as he was walking a mile in the morning and late afternoon, all bodily functions working well and he was hanging around the docks happy as a clam. Of course, this is the dog that fooled 3 vets when he was in heart failure, soooo...

What have we been doing?

We provisioned the boat and readied it to go, oh well.

Dale did some wiring and then we cleaned under the floor.

Oliver supervising with his dolphin.

Halloween was nice. We had trick or treaters on the dock.

Ollie waiting for them to come to our boat.

The Beck family, Andy, Robin, Maddie and Peyton

We have been watching the weather which is not cooperating. Lots of windy northerlies that make waves very high. We have had days up to 13 feet. We do not want to be out sailing in those.

We went to the Sebastian Clamfest. They have fried clams, steamed clams, clam chowder as well as other foods. It was yummy. They also had a craft fair and informational booths set up.

We have been keeping up with our Spartan football and basketball games when we can get them. For some reason ABC here  rather show SEC and ACC games here and our direct TV satellite is based in Michigan, so we haven't been able to see all the games. We listen on the computer and do Gamecast on the ESPN app.

My new Spartan Burgee

The marina hosted a Thanksgiving potluck, so we have now had 2 celebrations , one Canadian and one American. (sorry, no pictures)

Small remote sailboats race on a pond on Sunday afternoons.

Last night, Oliver was thrilled to see 2 dolphins in the marina. He barked from the docks and one swam right over, snorted through his blowhole right below us and them swam under the docks and a boat. They have some kind of connection. They did not go near the people. Oliver was ecstatic! I was holding him so did not get any pictures. I do not want the iphone to go in the water.

Watch the plethora of birds around here.

So anyway, here we are. We go for another blood test for Ollie next Tuesday when we will know how he is doing. I will keep you posted. I finally joined Facebook, so I try to update that.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Oliver is ready for the next holiday. 

The Canadians are here!

After house sitting our days here at Loggerhead Marina have became routine. Oliver and I need to drop a few pounds, so we walk at least 2-3 miles a day, split up for him and the heat yet. I try to exercise more depending on how far he goes. Then we may run errands, go to the beach, swim, knit (me), or do a boat chores ( more Dale).  The 2 washing machines were usually free, the bathrooms and captain's lounge hardly used. Then the marina population doubled with the influx of Canadians last week.

October 14 was the Canadian Thanksgiving, so they put together quite a feast. We were one of the few Americans invited. The food is the same as our Thanksgiving, the traditions pretty much the same without football and their landing was in Nova Scotia.  It was a wonderful time and after our Thanksgiving at anchor in the Supalo River alone last year, it was nice to celebrate with others. ( Pictures below)

Speaking of party, the Canadians have this mastered, on a daily basis from what I can tell. I thought sailors loved happy hour! Well we do not hold a candle. They are all friendly and love life.

Unfortunately a couple more little dogs arrived also. We had 4 others we had to avoid, but they were always on a leash. I have named the game "dodge dog". Oliver has been tormented by small dogs all his life. He was first bit when he was a puppy. Luckily he isn't a fighter because at his size he could do damage. Just the past couple of years has he learned to growl. Anyway, he has been attacked by these 2 two nights in a row. The last one occurred as we walked off our boat and the dogs launched themselves down the dock at Oliver , off leash, and bit his leg. They were yipping and nipping at him until the owner who was sitting with friends having a sundowner wine got up and grabbed them. I was blocking with my foot and Oliver, the gentle giant tried to hide behind me. No real damage, but Dale came charging off the boat and Oliver and I have more gray hair. Oliver also stepped on my foot so I have a bruise from the big lug trying to save himself.  Another sailor, walking her nice little dog, witnessed the whole thing in horror. I spoke to management today, but the boss is gone, so next week we will see. For now we avoid the "little killers". Last night Ollie saw them coming and quickly scooted up his ramp onto the boat. He then proceeded to act tough on the bow barking at them. He is pretty bright knowing they couldn't get him.

I have found a  Presbyterian Church here I like. Very traditional, the minister has a sense of humor and the people are friendly. The Cherub choir sang last Sunday as did 4 middle schoolers that were great. The Chancel Choir is maybe 5-6 men and 13-15 women. I feel young compared to the majority of them if you know what I mean. They do a variety of music and use organ and piano.

Also, a woman I met that lives here took me to the Grand Harbor Beach Club. We chatted in the beach chairs, walked the beach, and had a delicious lunch. It was a nice day at beautiful facilities. The pool is amazing.

We are hoping to cross over to the Bahamas in November . I have inventoried all our provisions and have been supplementing as things are pretty expensive over there. Dale has been readying the boat and ordering spare parts. Now just pray Oliver stays healthy. He needs to get a Health Certificate to go with his import permit when Dale checks us in to Customs.  We will keep you posted.

another beautiful sunset

Oct 1 for Breast Cancer Awareness

Oliver looking for his cat friend. Cat stays up there and hisses. 

Walking the boardwalk, saw dolphins yesterday

Hanging under his favorite palm tree. 

My vacation church

Grand Harbor Beach Club

more Beach Club, see how the other half live?

Canadian Thanksgiving

New Canadian friends

my Ode to Halloween

Love to all!

All done house sitting

We had a wonderful month house sitting in Skip and Harriet's lovely new home. Oliver really liked spreading out on the tile floor and meeting the new dogs in the neighborhood. He had a new girlfriend Winnie, a Weimaraner. Oliver also decided he was a lifeguard by the pool. He loves to swim, but we did not want to teach him to go in a pool as he is not allowed in the one here at Loggerhead Marina. My sister, Mary came for a visit, so we did some shopping, trips to the beach and eating too much.

Our days here are getting a little cooler. We do not get above 90 now. We are in a stormy tropical weather pattern right now, so we time our walks around the storms. Oliver has been walking a mile to a mile and a half twice a day.We have to get his weight down. He gets lots of attention here from fellow boaters and those that live in Grand Harbor. I am having knee issues again, so running is at a stand still for longer distances.

Not much to report as we are waiting until after hurricane season to travel. So far we have been lucky with the tropical storm outlook, so keep praying. Love to all. I will post when we know what we are doing and where we are going. Our main goal is to keep Ollie healthy.

Oliver the lifeguard for Mary.

Making sure Dale doesn't fall off the float.

My crab friend at the beach.

Lifeguard 

Trying to get Ollie to leave the house. 

Vero Beach 2

Our days here in Vero at the Loggerhead marina are into a pattern. It is hot and humid here, so I try to get Oliver up and moving early so he can get some exercise (me too).

We went to a nice vet here for his shots and heart med prescription. He still loves going to vets. Vets down here are basic vets, so to deal with Oliver's pericardial effusion we need a specialist. All we wanted was an ultrasound of his heart to look for fluid and they called back that the traveling radiologist would be in and we could have it done for $425. I went cold and explained that was crazy as the specialist in Ft. Lauderdale charges less or not at all. We had been taken to the cleaners by a vet in Ft Lauderdale before we got to the specialist, so we were not going to fall for that again. They tried to explain a cardiologist would look at the echo cardio gram and write a report. I coolly explained we do not need that, just an ultrasound. Needless to say, I may have burned a bridge there. Anyway, I called the specialist in Ft Lauderdale and they remembered Oliver and said come on down. Luckily we have a car, so we took a road trip 115 miles to see his internist. It took them 5 minutes to check his heart and NO fluid was noted. We went to pay and there was nothing at the desk for charges, so the receptionist went back to check and they did not charge us a penny. So, for the price of gas, we ended up way ahead. I think in my discussion with the vet here I used the "scam" word, but that is what it is here, especially when I have tons of medical paperwork on Oliver from Cascade Animal Hospital and subsequent vets on our trip. We do have a weight issue with him, that we are working on (oops, 7 pounds from all those treats). I have also gained a few, so Oliver and I are trying to get back in shape. Unfortunately it is so hot here, you run a mile and are so sweat slimy you only want a shower.

Oliver is known around the docks as the "manatee hunter". He can hear a snort from across the lagoon. We wander the docks and boardwalk everyday in search of the beasts. Lately we have seen them mating, which is not something I enjoy. Oliver, on the other hand, thinks all the rolling and snorting is for his benefit and he stares at them and sometimes barks. Needless to say, anyone that is walking by is alerted to the fact that these manatees must take Viagra.

On to better things. A woman, Jackie who lives at Grand Harbor in a condo took me on a tour and to lunch. It was great hearing the history of Vero and places to go during our time here. Then we had a dinner with our new ICW friends, Skip and Harriet from Baltimore that relocated to a beautiful home down here. We met fellow cruisers, some that have given up there cruising life and settled here. This was our second dinner at their home and they are having fun decorating in a Florida style.

After our first time at their house they emailed us wondering if we would like to house sit for them while they go on vacation for a month. Well, thinking of space, toilets that flush, not pump, a pool, kitchen, not a galley and laundry, we said "yes". We moved into their house a week ago Monday and will be here until Labor Day.

Oliver loving a real sofa in the house.

More photos follow of Loggerhead. Love to all!

At Mr. Manatees restaurant.

Birthday party in the Captain's lounge for Terry

crab on a ledge as we walked by

Oliver hiding because I need to clean his ears, poor baby