Here we are -- trapped in Vero Beach, Florida, by the weather, a huge rainstorm that may last until Friday.  Actually, being trapped by weather is a fairly common occurrence for boaters, especially boaters with a schedule.  I'm due to fly out of Jacksonville next Tuesday for a week of work in California.  Our boat insurance requires us to be out of Florida by noon on June 1.  We can't accomplish both if the weather doesn't change.  Florida has been waiting for months for the rainy season; unfortunately, it came four days too early for us.  Oh well, we'll figure it out. That is part of the fun of boating, unpredictability.

Until now we've had a reasonably uneventful trip up the Intercoastal Waterway.  The Intracoastal Waterway is a 3,000-mile waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States.  The waterway runs for most of the length of the Eastern Seaboard, from New Jersey to Brownsville, Texas.

The creation of the Intracoastal Waterway was authorized by the United States Congress in 1919.  It is maintained by the United States Army Corps of Engineers.  The waterway consists of two non-contiguous segments: the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, extending from Brownsville, Texas to Carrabelle, Florida, and the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, extending from Key West, Florida to Norfolk, Virginia.  Additional canals and bays extend the waterway to Boston, Massachusetts.  The Intercoastal is exactly what it sounds like, a waterway created by linking naturally occurring bays and rivers with dredged canals inside the coastline.  It is used both by recreational boaters and commercial, mostly barge, traffic.  During World War II it provided the U.S. with a secure shipping lane that wasn't accessible to the Germans.  From the recreational boater's perspective, it is a calmer travel environment than the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

We are in the Atlantic Intercoastal Waterway.  We've actually been through this part of Florida nine times over the last five years as we have moved the boat between Georgia and Florida each year (Georgia for hurricane season, Florida for the winter).  So we're not spending too much time in any one place.  

We did stop in Miami to shop for fresh food at a favorite grocery store (Fresh Market), to see the new Star Trek movie (liked it), and to notice that the view of Miami from the water has changed a lot since this last time we were through this way. Last time we took the boat through Miami we counted 17 construction cranes in the skyline. In this shot of downtown Miami from the water, there is only one.  One more proof that economy continues to suffer.  Rumor has it that Miami has a five year backlog of condos for sale. Constructing more isn't much of a priority.

Our next stop was one night at the Fort Lauderdale Yacht Club.  One of the reasons we joined the Marathon Yacht Club was it reciprocity with other Florida yacht clubs.  As Marathon members, we can get a free night of dockage at any of the other clubs.  So as we move up the coast, we stay for free about half the time.

We anchored in Lake Worth (North Palm Beach) the next night, then came to Vero Beach. Vero Beach is a favorite stop for boaters because there is a nice city marina and free bus service from the marina to the grocery store, Home Depot, Walmart, and West Marine (for boat parts).  We were only planning to be here two days, but now it looks like it will be at least four.