VERO BEACH — One year old this month, the Vero Beach Chamber of Commerce gave its annual report to the Board of County Commissioners Tuesday morning and announced plans to bring replicas of Christopher Columbus’ ships the Nina and the Pinta to Vero in March.
Chamber Board Chairman and local attorney Dan Stump announced that the Chamber now has 104 members and a permanent headquarters in the 2001 Building on the Twin Pairs in Vero, so the next step is to bring signature events to Vero Beach.
Chamber President Charlie Wilson said he’s still working out the details of where the Nina and Pinta will dock while in town — that involves a request before the Vero Beach City Council at Tuesday night’s meeting — but the arrival date is set for March 5.
Wilson said there are only three places on the Indian River that are 7.5 deep, which is what the 65-foot and 85-foot ships need to dock without running aground.
After a media event and member reception, Wilson said the ships will be open to school groups on March 6 and then to the public for touring on March 7-11. The ships will depart Vero for Ponce Inlet on March 12.
More information about the ship visit can be found at The Columbus Foundation’s website.
Wilson also announced plans for an inaugural Vero Beach Fourth of July parade on the barrier island with a 1.5-mile route running from Riverside Park, east on Beachland Boulevard, south on Ocean Drive and back to the staging area at the park.
“There’s a lot of activity in Sebastian, but the number of options for people in Vero Beach have been less so,” Wilson said.
Adding to the summer festivities that the Chamber hopes will keep the tourist industry busy in the slow times, Wilson said his members have planned a Pirate Week celebration at the end of July to coincide with the 300th anniversary of the sinking of the 1715 Spanish Fleet off the coast.
The ships wrecked in a hurricane and were scattered from the waters off Sebastian to Ft. Pierce. Treasure from these ships spawned the local wrecking and salvage industry in Indian River County.
Ben Costello of the 1715 Fleet Society came from Pennsylvania to talk to the Board of County Commissioners Tuesday morning about the historical significance of the 1715 fleet and about the wide interest in the upcoming 300th anniversary.
Costello said his group has members all over the country and that many members and other enthusiasts are planning to travel to the Vero Beach area to attend a series of events being held the last week in July at various locations, including local libraries, the Mel Fisher Museum and the Vero Beach Museum of Art.
