Escape from Vero - NOT

Along with 3 other friendlies we are trying to get out of Vero and down to Lake Worth, an anchorage from which we can cross to the Abacos.

It is not happening. No window of sufficient length has presented itself in the 12 days we have been here. A window, unforecast, was available today but of course we were not in place.

Friday looks good and we were to caravan our way south today. However the weather for today promised North winds of 30 knots and the Inland Waters were forecast to be rough.

Temperatures are heading into the 30's tonight (0 for you metric gnomes) not a problem for you guys stuck in -20's but remember we do not have heat. Sort of like living in Toronto in the winter, according to Randy and Donna.

Kudos are due to a few local outfits:

Carter's Marine Mechanics of Melbourne FL.

• for rebuilding our raw water pump in 1 day for less cost than E & C Marine in Toronto took to do it in 2 weeks.

Novurania, a Vero Beach importer of high end dinghies.

Meredith's dinghy has a leak. West Marine sells Hypalon dinghies but does not sell repair kits. Get this - West sell hypalon glue but not fabric.

We called Novurania about our problem and asked if we could purchase fabric. Sure enough, that afternoon the sales guy from Novurania drove 1 linear foot of new pearl gray hypalon fabric to the marina. Way beyond the call.

NAPA on 12th Street

The lady at the Napa counter has expedited delivery of many spares direct to the marina.

We have 8 oil filters, two new fan belts which they took back twice until we got the ones that fit, and a new can of corrosion resistant spray at less than half the cost of Boeshield T9 at the local West Marine. The new stuff called Fluid Film is used by the US Navy in maintaining its nuclear subs so it should work on Meredith's metal parts.

RBC Bank, Vero Beach

The manager of this branch of RBC Bank in Florida accomplished in 20 minutes what our account rep in London could not do in 4 months. We have bank accounts and online access of both our US and Canadian accounts. RBC is so backward that if you have online access to your accounts through Canada you cannot view your US accounts. If you have online access via USA you can access and transfer between Canadian and US accounts with abandon.

RBC Canada is run by luddites. RBC Bank will soon eat its lunch.