Bill, Mary Frances and Cassie (pictured) are blogging in32963 en route to the Keys.

TripSailor.com is one of the best social networks where sailors share their offshore life online . The website has an excellent blog feature where members and visitors can interact, share itineraries and upload photos from their voyages. One of TripSailor’s most active and well-written blogs is currently being updated by Bill and Mary Frances, a retired couple from South Carolina sailing from Hilton Head down to the Keys. Fortunately for us, they are enjoying an extended stay in32963 and blogging from the docks in Vero Beach. Since their arrival last week, Mary Frances has been writing about cormorant sightings, trips to Fresh Market, TV repairs, lunches at Riverside Cafe, dinners at Mulligans, and haircuts for their travel companion, Cassie. “This is our 3rd night here at Vero Beach and we can understand why it’s often called Velcro Beach because when you get here you tend to want to stick around,” Mary Frances wrote on Saturday. Weather and wind instrument repair delays may keep the couple in32963 longer than originally planned, but Mary Frances is enjoying the warm weather and looking on the bright side, “Well, we’re unsure of when we’ll leave Vero Beach. Vero is a great place to be if you’re going to have a delay. I’ll keep you up-to-date.” To follow Bill and Mary Frances’ adventures in Vero and journey to the Keys, visit “Cool Breeze Sails South.”

Sailboats, powerboats and yachts fill the slips of the Vero Beach Marina (Photo: Robert Scully)

As the economy goes, so goes the boat business. The recent economic downturn meant declining boat sales, more marina slip vacancies and—in some extreme cases—even boat repossessions.  So, in what can only be interpreted as a positive sign involving one of the most discretionary of luxury purchases, the local boat market is enjoying a resurgence. TCPalm’s headline sums up the good news: More private boats seem to be heading to Treasure Coast waterways than in years past. Scripps reporter Tom Ivice travels to several local marinas and encounters optimistic dockmasters including Vero Beach Municipal Marina’s Director Tim Grabenbauer. “The boaters who are coming in are telling me that they saw more boats on the waterway than they have in the last three years,” says Grabenbauer, “To me that’s a good sign.” And while other Treasure Coast marinas struggled in recent years, Grabenbauer’s parting shot proves the resiliency in32963: “We’ve pretty much stayed near capacity in the 13 years I’ve been working here. We saw a little bit of a decrease in power boating the past couple of years, probably because of fuel costs, but the power boaters are coming back now.” More encouraging local boating news comes this week courtesy of Soundings which is reporting on “stability” and positive retail activity in Florida.