Ranger Tug 21ec "Lil' Green Tug"

Mansions on the ICW north of Vero Beach Yesterday was blustery and chilly, with winds out of the north at a steady 17 knots. It was the day I decided to head north from the Vero Beach City Marina on the Indian River (also known as the Indian River Lagoon and forming a part of the Intracoastal Waterway) to Sebastian, Florida. It's a short, 14 mile trip. The charts show the channel meandering through mangrove islands, but just north of Vero Beach it passes by beautiful mansions on the barrier island to the east, estates you never see driving north on highway A1A past the high concrete and hedge fences, past the gated communities. There were several pods of porpoise, there were cormorants coming up in front of the boat with wiggling fish in their beaks which they flipped around until the head was pointing down their throats and then down-the-hatch so to speak, and a manatee, my first sighting of one. It was a dark grey hulk just below the surface. I'm not entirely sure that&

Rain, rain, and more rain! The Vero Beach City Marina mooring field has over 100 boats, and just about everyone is hunkered down below decks waiting for the rain and wind to stop. Some come ashore in their dingy all bundled up in foul weather gear to do the laundry or catch the free bus to Publix to do some grocery shopping, but for the most part the marina is pretty much empty of people ashore. A week ago, we had 4-inches of rain in one 24-hour period, a record for that particular calendar day. But I really don't mind the rain so much. I have a nice, new lightweight, breathable rain jacket with a hood that keeps me dry when I go outside, and my nylon cargo shorts dry quickly enough. The boat I'm on (a Ranger Tug 21ec) stays dry below decks. In all of the sailboats I've owned over the years, hatches and windows leaked, and condensation built up inside along with mold, but this little boat is as tight as a drum. I have a small electric space heater that takes away the