Last Two Days in Vero then Off to Titusville (Days 13-16)

Sunday, April 27th

Laundry day!  Not much going on with the boat today as we're pretty well full of fuel and groceries plus the boat has been running nice (knock on wood).  We relaxed a bit in the morning then took our laundry into the marina after lunch.  Wouldn't you know it?  For the 4 or 5 times we've been by the marina laundry room we've never seen anyone in there.  Today there were only two washers empty (out of 6) and a lady showed up right after us with 2 or 3 loads.

But, we didn't have to wait and got our laundry right into the washers.  We just hung out while washers were running then, after moving the laundry to the dryers, we went for a walk. We walked south down Indian River Drive then across Rt 60 into Riverside Park.  Wow!  What a huge and beautiful park!  We didn't even have time to walk all the way around it before we had to head back for the dryers although we did 2 miles of it.

Back at the marina we folded up our laundry then headed back to the boat.  Timing was great as I had the dinghy up on it's davits just as the afternoon rain started.  It wasn't as bad as predicted but there were huge storms just south of us.  We could see the lightning and hear the thunder for a couple hours.

Tonight will be cool - down into the high-60s with north winds tomorrow.  That's why we are sitting another day so the north winds clock east and we can sail on Tuesday.

Monday, April 28th

 It was cool enough last night to put a blanket on the bed.  Very comfortable for me.

After a few boat jobs in the morning, we went for a dinghy ride after lunch.  Dean had told us about a canal that runs over toward the ocean so we meandered around and eventually found a small beach, between the mangroves, where we were able to lock the dinghy.  Then just a short walk across A1A to the beach!  On the way to the beach, we spotted a snack bar with an advertisement for ice cream.  I think we've only had ice cream once this Winter so we were ready.  Crap.  They closed at 2:30pm.  It was 3:10pm.

Plus, the public access was all closed and no other place we could find to get down there.  It was beautiful and empty.  Bummer.  Now we were 0 for 2.

 

It was a pretty day though with a cool north wind blowing down the coast.  We both had long-sleeve shirts on to keep warm.  On the way back to the dinghy, I took this picture of the nice park with a place for the dinkster.  Sorry about the finger in the upper corner...

We had a nice ride back to the boat without any other issues.

Before we left I had texted Dean about playing some music at the marina this evening.  We made a date for 4:30pm and just had time for showers and pack up our instruments after our dinghy ride.

Dean and I alternated songs on our guitars and Laura even played a couple songs on her Mountain Dulcimer.  Dean had invited several of his friends at the marina who came and chatted while listening to music.  It was a fun evening that was helped along by TWO glasses of Tequila.  Back at the boat I hauled up the dingy and secured it a little better than normal because tomorrow we are going sailing!

Back at the boat I was feeling pretty good and very ready to be leaving tomorrow morning.  Those who have followed our blog for the past 14 years might remember that Laura and I are classified as "Globe Trotters" and not "Cruisers".  This was a term used by Bruce Van Sant in his Gentleman's Guide to Passages South which we use during our first two years for traveling to Grenada and Trinidad.  It says we are the type of sailors who like to travel between places more than staying there.  We are always ready for the next horizon.

Tuesday, April 29th

Air temp 72, water temp 76 winds E @ 10-15

33 nautical miles today, 277 total from Marathon

Tuesday morning we are up shortly after 7am and motoring out of the harbor by 7:30am.  The winds are a little lighter than predicted so we motored for the first hour until we were away from shore a bit and the east winds built in nicely.  We turned off the engine and sailed the ICW for the next 5 hours with full main and jib pulling us along at 5-5.5 knots.  It was one of our favorite days in many months.  The boat just glided along and it was so quiet.

Autumn Borne passed us later in the morning as Dean was running his engine to check everything out.  This was their first day on the water under-way since December so lots to watch for.

We made it an early day and anchored just past the Dragon Point bridge near the eastern shore around 2:45pm.  I practiced my flute for a while then Laura and I watched a few shows off my iPhone.  We hit the sack around 10pm.

Wednesday, April 30th

Air temp 76, water temp 74, winds SE @ 10

33 nautical miles today, 310 total from Marathon

After a nice night on-the-hook, we were up and raised the anchor at 7:30am again.  I rolled out the jib but the winds were light and behind us so we were only making about 3 knots without the motor.  I decided to work on my sailing a bit today and because the Indian River is fairly wide here I jibe-tacked back and forth from a broad-reach to wing-on-wing all morning.  This means running the boat a little east of our desired course to keep both the main and jib working on a starboard tack (wind on our starboard side).  Then, when we got too close to shallow water, I jibed the main to the starboard side and we ran straight downwind with the full jib out to port and full main out to starboard.  This only works with the wind right behind you so the boat gradually worked toward the western shore of the river on this tack.  I ran this process all morning and probably averaged 4.5 knots for the day.  Since we only had 30 miles to Titusville, we weren't in any hurry.

Autumn Borne passed us again and arrived at Titusville 2.5 miles (a little over 1/2 hour) ahead of us.  They had run their engine at low RPM all day while our engine was cold. In the two 7 hour days from Vero Beach, we had sailed for 10.5 hours of it.  I know.  Not a huge accomplishment but I gotta take gratification in the little things these days.

Because of the storms predicted all day tomorrow, we picked up a mooring at the Titusville City Marina for two nights - $38.  I feel safer on a mooring (if they are city run and inspected annually) plus the boat doesn't dance back and forth like if we were anchored in high winds.  We might take the dinghy into town for a walk if we can get a couple hours between rain cloud tomorrow.  Here is our view of the Titusville bridge and some of the high-rise condos from our mooring.

Three years ago we added solar panels and a wind generator to Second Wind.  Days like this are when they are really is nice.  We sailed all day and only ran the engine for about 20 minutes at each end of the trip.  Prior to three years ago I would have had to run our generator for several hours at the end of the day to charge our batteries.  When we tied to the mooring, the batteries were all charged up - even put back what we used last night.  I was even able to run the hot water heater off our inverter for about 1/2 hour to get hot water for shower and dishes.  That was replenished in the batteries before the Sun went down.  It was a prefect scenario - clear, blue skies and winds in the high teens.  Don't forget we have a refrigerator and two freezers that run off the batteries when not at the dock.  They are frugal but not power free.  Thank you Mr. Wind and Mr. Sun!

Today was much warmer and humid with the south winds.  The front will clock the winds tomorrow to the west and cool everything down for a couple days.  The low tomorrow night is predicted to be 58 here.  Our first 50s!  I'm so excited (Laura is not).

But, highs will still be in the low 80s for the next couple weeks and even close to 90 on Monday and Tuesday.  Nights are going to be in the 60s which should keep things comfortable for us without air-conditioning.

Stay safe everyone!

Sitting through storms in Vero (Day 11 and 12)

Friday, April 25th

Air temp 79, water temp 79 (I'm not making this up folks), winds S @ 15-18

It was a quiet morning on Second Wind as I slept in a little because it was too warm in the boat to sleep well last night.  We had some of Laura's fresh baked English Muffins with an egg and bacon for breakfast.  They were GOOD!

Storms were heading at us from the north and west so today was going to be wet.  It rained on and off during the morning and we alternated from windows open to windows closed about every 1/2 hour.

Around noontime, there was a clear spot on the weather RADAR so we dropped the dinghy and headed into the marina.  We had trash to dispose of and I wanted to pay for a couple more days.  We were paid through tonight.

After paying for 2 more night and dropping the trash, we went for a little walk to loosen up.  I didn't want to go very far as there were dark clouds heading our way.  We only walked about 1/2 mile but kept the pace fast so we could get a little exercise.  Back to the boat and it started raining just a little later.  I ran the Honda generator about 20 minutes on our hot water heater then a few hours for our air-conditioning while the boat was closed up.  It made it very nice in here.

Laura took this picture of a neat tree near the marina office.  It actually has a palm tree growing in the center.  In the picture, you can just see some of the dried palm fronds near the top of the picture.

I had been smelling antifreeze from the engine room for the past few days and today it seemed worse.  Yesterday I had drained some of the antifreeze from the engine in preparation to replace the thermostat.  Then, I put it back in and ran the engine for a bit after I couldn't get the thermostat bolts out.  Maybe I had spilled some antifreeze that was causing the smell.

When I went to investigate, I saw the heat-exchanger (radiator on a car) cap was seeping.  I'd seen this before so took it off to make a new gasket.  I keep lots of different gasket material on the boat so selected what seemed right and went to the salon.  Laura is always happy to help so she jumped right in and cut out a new gasket with her sewing scissors.

 

When she finished, the new gasket looked pretty good.  It's the one on top in the next picture.

I replaced the cap and it fit nicely.  Hopefully, no more leaks.

But, a few hours later, we could still smell antifreeze.  Now we had some work to do.  Laura changed into "bilge monkey" clothes and dropped down into the engine room.  I helped from above as we removed the two oil pads from under the engine and another pad along the starboard side.  The one on the side was probably the smelly culprit as it had several green spots from antifreeze.

We used engine spray cleaner and paper towels to clean everything up then put in fresh oil pads.  Now it smelled nice in there so hopefully it will stay nice.

Yesterday I had taken the dinghy under the bridge behind us to check out the Riverside Cafe on the other side.  I was hoping they had take-out.  Turns out they were closed and renovating.  But, when I got back to the boat, I noticed their wi-fi was still broadcasting.  I configured our amplified antenna for their network and it's been working awesome.  It should, right?  There's nobody at the restaurant using it.  We were able to stream shows last night and I even downloaded on my phone a season of Vikings and Criminal Minds that we are re-watching.

Storms with lightning, thunder and high winds lasted through most of the evening but things quieted down when we went to bed around 10pm.  Then, around 12:30am, a big storm came through with boomers and winds that rocked us pretty good.  No sleeping through that but it ended about 20 minutes later and we slept peacefully the rest of the night.

Saturday, April 25th

Air temp 70, water temp 78, winds calm

The storms last night brought north winds that cooled us down nicely.  I think it actually got down to 68 outside and about 76 inside the boat.  Toward morning, I even had to pull on a blanket.

Today was grocery day.  We've been filling up our virtual cart on the Publix website and wanted to get it delivered this morning before the predicted afternoon storms.  Laura placed the order around 9am with a 2-3 hour delivery.  I dropped the dinghy to be ready when it arrived.

It was cool to watch on-line as our shopper check things off on the list and there was only 1 item they didn't have but we were able to select a substitute.  Around 11:30am it was "out for delivery" so we gathered trash (including all the dirty engine room rags from yesterday) and motored into the marina.  We arrived just as Brian showed up with a backseat full of food and stuff.  Sorry - we forgot to take a picture of us in the very full dinghy.  Next time...

He helped us load the many bags into the dinghy then we thanked him as he drove off.  What a concept!  I could get used to this except it seems pretty expensive.  When comparing the register receipt to our final bill, it looks like it cost something like $62 for the delivery MORE than getting it ourselves.  But, the website said our groceries would be about $30 more than the actual register receipt.  Dean said he knew from experience we would get this back but it would take a few days.  We'll see.  Next time we may take the 2 mile walk then spend $10 to Uber back to the marina.  What else do we have to do?

Laura finished putting away all the groceries and, after lunch, I helped to vacuum seal the 12 pounds of on-sale chicken we had ordered along with (3) 1/2 pound packages of deli-meat for lunches. In my world, you can never have too much chicken.  There's so many things you can make with it!

This afternoon was very warm on the boat.  Temp at 6:30pm was "87, feels like 97".  I took my flute up to the cockpit and played for about an hour but I was wet with sweat before I stopped - even with all the windows open.  I've been trying to practice more lately to increase my quality of play.  I played the flute quite a bit several years ago with my sister Denise on piano and me on flute.  We played several nice duets.  But...  that was about 15-20 years ago.  When you don't play the flute for awhile, all your mouth and lung parts forget how to do it.  The first time you try you can play a few notes but it's very squeaky and sounds like crap.  From experience, it takes about 2 weeks of solid practicing to get the good sound from the instrument started.  I'm almost there!

This afternoon was very little or no wind.  This is the forecast for the next 36 hours until the next front comes through late Sunday night and finally we get some nice (for me) weather of low 80s during the day and down into the 60s at night.

I took the dinghy into the marina with a load of trash from packing the groceries.  I saw Dean and Sue out on the back of their boat talking to someone so I stopped by.  After talking for a while, I ask if they had any trash which I would be happy to take in with mine.  They had more than me!  Go figure. 

The rest of today will be a few odd jobs around the boat and tomorrow will be laundry day.  It's been over 2 weeks since laundry in Marathon so, even though we wear our summer clothes multiple days, our laundry basket is full.

It was so warm this afternoon that Laura and I decided to skip dinner.  Neither of us were hungry so we'll just snack a bit.  Neither of us is going to waste-away-to-nothing....

Dean and I have been discussing when we will leave and we might stay until Tuesday.  The storms end on Sunday but winds on Monday will be out of the north at 10-20 knots.  That is the direction we'll be traveling which will really slow us down. Tuesday and Wednesday look like better sailing days and we'd get to Titusville for another cold front on Thursday.  Sounds good to me.

Change of plans (happens all the time...) - Days 8, 9 and 10

Tuesday, April 21st

78 degrees air temp, 78 degrees water temp.  Winds NW @ 10

36 nm today, 244 total from Marathon

We were up before sunrise and preparing the boat for a 60+ mile run to the Melbourne anchorage today.  It took a little longer than usual to pull the anchor as the chain was very muddy.  We have a seawater washdown with a hose that we use to clean the chain and anchor.  But, this stuff was like peanut butter and took longer than usual to rinse off.

By 0645 we were underway and motoring back to the ICW channel.  No problems in this direction as I just followed my GPS track from when we had come in.  This showed the one deeper spot that I had found - 6 feet.  We turned north and settled in for a day of motoring the ICW.

2 1/2 hours later we passed Ft. Pierce and had to wait 20 minutes for the North Bridge schedule (they open every 1/2 hour so we just missed it).  This is our only bridge today.  As we motored passed the bridge, the winds clocked a little to the east so I rolled out the jib and main to try and help us along.  That only lasted about 15 minutes until the wind veered back to the north and the sails were flapping.  Oh well...  I will always try to sail whenever possible.

A couple hours later we passed Vero Beach where our friends Dean and Sue were on a mooring.  They were supposed to join us but Dean got heavily involved in a few boat projects (it happens) so decided to sit a few days.  They will hopefully catch-up in a week or so.

Our plans were to anchor around Melbourne tonight then motor to Titusville tomorrow.  Titusville mooring field is very protected from the south winds predicted this weekend and we'd be able to go ashore to loosen up our legs.  I decided to call them and maybe try to reserve a mooring for tomorrow and the next few days.

The lady on the phone told me they did have moorings but they were first come, first served - no reservations.  She also added that they were "daily".  I asked if they meant we could only stay one night.  She replied, "No.  You can stay more than one night but can't come ashore."  Oh crap.  With the nasty weather predicted Friday, Saturday and Sunday, we had planned on staying there for 4-5 days.  It had been 8 days since we had been ashore.  Even though we don't mind extended stays on the boat, we would like to stretch our legs and maybe see other people once in a while.

I called back to Vero Beach City Marina and asked if they had a mooring available.  They did have "one" but it was also first come, first served.  I turned the boat around and motored the 4 miles back to Vero hoping no one else would get there before us.

Turns out we did make it and tied up at the fuel dock for a pump-out and registration.  They still had all our owner and boat information on the computer from the last time we were here - December 2006.  Nice!

We paid for 4 nights ($69 total) then moved the boat to the open mooring.  Laura did her normal excellent job of picking up the mooring line and tying lines to both sides of Second Wind.  Dean and Sue drove by to say, "hi!" and seemed happy we were there.  Dean also texted me a little later to say he was thinking of organizing a guitar jam at the dock and wanted to hear us play and sing again.  After talking, we decided to schedule this for tomorrow.  Laura and I were a little tired from being up early and didn't feel like dropping the dinghy, putting the motor on, etc.  So, after 8 days of not getting off the boat, we decided to wait for tomorrow.

Dinner was burgers on the grill and afterwards we watched a few shows off my iPhone connect to the TV.  AT&T recently sent us a notification that they were offering a new plan that increased the monthly gigs from 22 to 100 per device - these are both "unlimited" plans but can slow you down after reaching these limits.  The caveat was it included HBO but not AT&T Watch TV.  We almost never watched Watch TV so we signed up for it.  It will be interesting to see if we use all the data while traveling and watching TV each night off the phone.  I'll let you know.

Wednesday, April 22nd

68 degrees air temp, 76 degrees water temp. 

This was the first night in months that I pulled on the blanket and slept really well.   We have a clock in our cabin that displays the current time plus inside and outside temperature on the ceiling.  This was the first morning since January that it was below 75 in our cabin - it was 72 inside and 67 outside at 6am.  Even with the air-conditioning on in Marathon, the nights were so warm it barely got below 80 in the cabin (but it was much dryer, comfortable and noisier).

We decided to go ashore today!  Later in the morning we dropped dinghy, lowered the outboard onto the transom, got all our stuff together and motored toward the marina .  On the way, we stopped and talked to Dean and Sue on their boat.  Then we motored to the dinghy dock and touched land for the first time in 8 days.  It was nice.  We walked down the road a bit without a real destination then decided to see if the beach was open. After a mile walk, it turned out there were signs the public access to the beach was closed but a nearby restaurant had steps leading down to the sand.  There were 100s of people on the beach but nobody close - everyone was social distancing nicely.  Laura got in a little walk for her "beach fix".

There is a highway over the water just behind our boat so, on our way back to the marina, I walked up and took this picture.  (No.  We didn't buy a drone...) This is the Vero Beach City Marina mooring field.  Second Wind is the first boat in the lower right.

Dean had scheduled a 3pm play-along at the marina picnic tables.  We arrived around 3:15pm and were the first people there.  This worked out OK as I watched the 3:30pm SpaceX launch from Cape Canaveral on my iPad and a little in-person.  I had hoped to be at Titusville for this launch but we didn't make it.  From 70 miles away, we did see the light from the engines going up into the sky but the higher clouds hid the rest of the accent. Bummer.

Dean played guitar, I played guitar and Uke, Sassy also played the Uke.  A few other boaters came over and we had some fun for a couple hours singing along.  As you can see, we were social-distancing here too.

We had BBQ pork chops off the grill for dinner and ate in cockpit for the 3rd time in several months.  I love eating dinner in the cockpit.  It's like a picnic with just the two of us in the fresh air.  Plus, as usual, we played some nice dinner music on the stereo (Howard Livingston) then sat and talked for quite awhile after eating.  When we eat in the salon, I turn on the TV and watch a few shows instead of talking.  It was just a perfect day weatherwise.  Light north winds which were just a little cool for walking and hanging out.  Just enough wind to keep the mosquitoes and no-seeums away.

Oh.  There is a boat parked next to us that reminded me of my late cousin Don.  During our get-togethers in Marathon, he would always call Islamarada "Esmerelda".  Thinking of you Don!



Tomorrow will be warmer with high south winds.  Then Friday, Saturday and Sunday are predicted to be unsettled weather with showers and thunderstorms.  This is why we are here so we'll sit out the next few days with plans on leaving Monday to head north again. 

In the meantime, Laura has been making out a grocery list on-line for Insta-cart at Publix to be delivered on Saturday.  Prices are a little higher than in the store but it's perfect for folks without a car (like us).  Dean had an Insta-cart grocery delivery today and they brought it right to the dinghy dock.  Awesome!

Thursday, April 23rd

74 degrees air temp, 76 degrees water temp

It was warmer last night so no blanket for me.  We do sleep with a small fan blowing cool air on us which makes things much more comfortable.

Just so you don't think everything on a boat is fun and games....

Over the past year or so, our boat engine has been running a little hotter than normal on the gauge.  I keep a close eye on it and have even checked our engine temp with a thermometer gun (yes, about 10 degrees hotter than normal).  I've changed the raw water impeller last fall which didn't make any difference and checked the sea strainer and lines to the engine.  My next troubleshooting spot was the thermostat which I thought might not be opening all the way and limiting the cooling water through the engine.

I called and found that Trans Atlantic Diesel in Virginia (a good place for Perkins engine parts) had them in stock so I ordered two thermostats and two gaskets yesterday with overnight shipping.  They arrived this morning and I took the dinghy into the marina office and picked them up.

Back at the boat, I siphoned about a gallon of antifreeze mixture from the engine and only got a small amount in my mouth.  Euuuuu!  That stuff tastes awful. Then I concentrated on the two bolts holding the thermostat housing.  One bolt was easy to get at so I started there.  Box-end wrench wouldn't loosen it so I tried a socket with ratchet then a 1 foot breaker-bar.  Couldn't move it.  I sprayed on BP Blaster (good solvent for loosening bolts) and waited a bit.  Still wouldn't move. 

Two hours later and I still can't get the bolts off.  I'm giving up for today and putting everything back together.  At least this is not critical - we can still move the boat at close to our normal cruising speed.  Plus, the engine temp has seemed to get a little better since we motored out of The Keys.  There has been about a 10 degree drop in seawater temperature to here and it will only get cooler (better?), right?

Laura is making English-muffins from scratch and they are rising right now.  Dean organized another sing-along at the marina (I think Thursday is their normal day) and we can't decide if we are going in to play / sing.  Seems like I would be playing all the same songs from yesterday.  What fun is that?

I guess that's all for today.  I'll post this and start another episode tomorrow during the predicted storms.  At least we are on a mooring now in a very protected cove.  Should be fun!

Lake Worth to Stuart to Jensen Beach (Days 5, 6 and 7)

Saturday, April 18th

Air temp 79, water temp 83, winds W @10

26 nm today, 191 total from Marathon

Anchor up at 9:30am to continue our "bridge dance" to Stuart.  We had 7 bridges today and the first 4 were on a 1/2 hour schedule.  We passed through the first 3 without hardly slowing down as the schedule was close to our boat speed.  The Indiantown bridge was 4 miles away but we only had 1/2 hour from the last bridge.  I knew we couldn't make it so throttled down so we would not be too early and have to hold the boat near the bridge.  It all worked out well and the next two bridges were on request and pretty close.  1/2 hour later we were in Hobe Sound with only one more bridge over an hour away.

While cruising, we almost never pay attention to the day of the week.  Unless, it's a weekend.  Then, it seems like every boat ever made is out on the water and we're dodging them (and their wakes) big and small.  Especially today as it was a beautiful morning - warm with light winds.  The waterway was crazy busy and Hobe Sound was even more nuts.  Most of Hobe Sound is a 25 knot speed limit which is perfect for the big fishing boats to put out a huge 3-4 foot wake to everybody around them.  But, it gradually calmed down for us as we passed a couple major anchorages which seemed to be the destination of most boats.

Have you seen electric hydrofoil boards?  They look like a lot of fun but I don't know if I could balance myself on something that small.  They look like a tiny surf board but have a fin underneath with an electric motor about 3 feet down pushing a hydrofoil up to the surface.  The rider stands on the board with a remote speed control in his hand.  As he / she goes faster, the board gradually lifts out of the water and looks like something from Back to the Future.  Here's a picture Laura took of a couple running around us in Hobe Sound.  Notice the guy on the right is going slow so his board is still on the water.  The guy on the left is going much faster so the hydrofoil had pushed the board up like he's floating on air.

We were not sure of our destination today as we had a few choices.  A great spot to anchor with ocean beach access is Peck Lake about 1/2 way between Hobe Sound and the St. Lucie River.  It is usually pretty full with anchored boats but we were hopeful with less cruisers on the water now there would be room.  Nope.  It was very full with 12 sailboats and several local powerboats.  There was probably room for us to anchor between some of them but I don't like tight anchorages.  If the winds picks up, ya never know how good the anchor system is of the other boats.  They could (and have) drag their anchors right into us.

So we decided to keep going and anchor near Stuart where I planned on getting fuel and water - probably tomorrow.  Just after passing Peck Lake, a squall came through with 20-25 knot winds.  The winds were out of the north which slowed us down a bit but didn't push us out of the channel.

The squall calmed down just as we made the turn onto the St. Lucie River toward Stuart with rain and winds up to 35 knots.  I decided to try and new anchorage near a spot called Hooker Bay.  It looked pretty wide open with good wind protection from the west and south where the winds were supposed to blow tonight.  I made the turn to the west about 1/2 way between G17A and G19.  Both of my chart plotters showed this whole area to be 7-9 feet deep so I didn't even slow down.  About 2 minutes later I could see our depth sounder going down (shallow water) so pulled back the throttle to idle.  21 tons of sailboat doesn't stop very quickly but we did start to slow.  My depth sounder alarm went off a few seconds later to show less than a foot of water under our keel.  I put the transmission in reverse at almost full throttle - this is our brakes.  The boat slowed much quicker but I could feel the keel dragging in the mud as the boat came to a sudden stop.  It was soft mud which I was able to reverse out of fairly quickly and move closer to G19 where the water was deeper to the western shore.

This is our 29th trip up or down the ICW.  It's a little game with me to see if I can make it all the way without running aground.  The game was up quickly this year as we hadn't gone 200 miles (out of the total 1,700).  I have made it all the way twice - pretty lucky those years.

A short time later we had the anchor down in Hooker Bay and spent a somewhat restless evening with the boat wakes from the ICW continuing until after 10pm. 

Sunday, April 19th

Air temp 73 (a little cooler - YEA), water temp 84, winds W @ 8-10

17 nm today for 208 total from Marathon

We like taking our time and not rushing when cruising up and down the east coast.  Our schedule is almost always controlled by the weather.  When it's nice, we move.  When it's nasty, we stay put.  Plus, I have favorite anchorages which I know will give us good protection from specific wind directions so I plan to be there when the winds are high and we need to sit.  The past few weeks have seen some nasty squalls with high winds all along the southern and southeastern states so we didn't want to go there until things calmed a bit.

Also, part of our schedule this year, we were meeting up with our friends Dean and Sue (S/V Autumn Borne) on the 21st.  They have been on a mooring at the Vero Beach City Marina for several months and decided to travel north with us. 

This is why we haven't gone very far the past few days plus thunderstorms have been building along the Florida coast every afternoon / evening.  The weather forecast for Monday called for 20-30 knot winds from the south and southwest all day so we wanted to be somewhere with good protection from the south.

I decided to anchor Sunday and Monday nights on the north side of the Jensen Beach Bridge.   We've been in there several times and the holding is good with very nice protection from any southern winds.  Knowing today would be a short run, we slept in a bit and didn't leave our anchorage until 10am.  As we had time to kill, I decided to motor 7 miles to Stuart and fill up our diesel, gas and water tanks.  We were not running low on anything but, this year, I was trying to keep everything more full than normal in case our normal fuel stops were closed.  Right now, they are all open but ya never know. 

I'm not sure I've ever seen this many boats out on the water.  The Stuart area is very popular with boaters but today was over the top.  We did make it to Sunset Bay Marina and loaded 25 gallons of diesel (out of 150), 5 gallons of gasoline (out of 20) and about 30 gallons of water (out of 200).  Because of COVID-19, we were not allowed off the boat and even handed the attendant a couple bags of trash to dispose for us.

Back down the St. Lucie River toward the ICW with both small and big boats passing us in every direction.  Here's a picture Laura took of all the boats zooming around us.  Can you count how many boats are in this picture?

A couple hours later we crossed under the Jensen Beach Bridge and I had to find my way over the bar into our anchorage.  I knew from experience this would be tricky so I slowly edged the boat to the west off the ICW.  The first two places I tried we "touched bottom" but the third time was a charm.  Still there was less than a foot of water under our keel as we slowly motored behind the bridge watching the water get deeper.  We anchored in 8 feet of water nicely protected from the south and west.

Winds were not too bad but it was warm and humid.  Around dinner time I closed up the boat, started the generator and turned on the air-conditioner to cool down the boat and lower the humidity inside.  We decided to make a breakfast for dinner with home fries, bacon, sausage, eggs and toast.  What wine goes with breakfast?  I choose white.

I had been checking the weather RADAR on my phone and was watching storms pass south of us but nothing showed in our area.  Near the end of our dinner all hell broke loose.  We had a huge gust of wind come from the side and lean the boat over 30-40 degrees on it's side.  Everything in the salon slid off the table and counters as we tried to hold onto our plates.  I immediately opened the hatch and crawled into the cockpit.  I could barely see the front of the boat 25 feet away with the rain and blowing spray from the water.  We were in a white-squall!

Laura was frantically trying to close the clear canvas windows in the cockpit and I immediately ran downstairs and turned on all our instruments then back into the cockpit to start the engine.  I put the engine in gear and gave it some throttle to try and keep the anchor from pulling out.  As I looked down at the instruments, the anemometer (wind speed) read 44 knots.  Holy Crap!  And this was after it started calming a little.  What was it 5 minutes ago?

The only time I had felt the boat like this was in 2007 when we were anchored in St. David's Grenada and were hit by the tail of a Hurricane and 65 knot winds.  This brought back bad memories.  It cleared around us enough to see that we were not moving (this was very good) but just a few minutes later the winds (and our boat) clocked 180 degrees and we pointed the opposite direction.  What the heck was this doing to our anchor?  The rain and winds calmed down (to mid-20s) about 10 minutes later.  I could see that we had moved maybe 100 feet from where we were anchored before the squall.  I assume this was from the winds clocking 180 degrees which would have pulled our anchor backwards and out of it's set.  Then the anchor would have to re-set in the new direction.  I can't believe it actually did re-set when the winds were over 40 and the boat would have put enormous pressure on it.  I love our Rocna anchor!

I thought we had come through pretty well when Laura said, "Look at our solar panel!".  The two 7/8" stainless tubes that held the panel had broken and the panel had flipped up into a position it was never meant for.  When I checked it out, I could see that the 3/16 pop-rivets holding the aluminum mounts had broken off and nothing was holding the top of the panel.  We eventually tied a rope around it so the winds would not blow it back down and break the glass.  Here's what it looked like while the storm was still going.

The winds gradually died down and we could hear the emergency sirens wailing for the next couple hours.  There was no report of a tornado but what would have clocked the winds 180 degrees in the middle of a storm?

After that we watched a few shows on the TV and hit the sack early.  Tomorrow is supposed to be very windy too and I've got a little work to do around the boat.

Monday, April 20th

Air temp 78, water temp 84, winds SW @ 15

0 miles today.

Today is going to be the warmest this year (high of 93 degrees) but it is supposed to cool down a bit after this.

Because of the 20-30 knot winds predicted for today, we are staying at anchor and not moving up the ICW.  I needed to fix the solar panel and also wanted to re-anchor the boat back to our original position which would let me check the anchor and shackles for wear.

After breakfast, Laura and I swung the solar panel down and put two clamps to hold it there.  Then we did pull up the anchor and move the boat.  I motored slowly around the anchorage, watching the depth sounder, and looking for the best place.  It turned out where I had anchored the first time was best and was between two crab pots that we had to stay away from.  A short time later we re-anchored very close to were we had started before the storm last night.

I then dug out my tools to work on the solar panel.  I drilled out the old pop-rivets then drilled the holes bigger for larger rivets.  I replaced the 3/16 rivets with 3/8.  These should not be the weak link next time.  I then fixed the stainless tubing supports - seems like they had just come apart at the end caps.  Laura and I put the panel back up and it looked pretty nice.  Here's what it is supposed to look like.

The winds have started to pick up (as predicted) and are currently gusting over 25 knots.  Doesn't seem very bad compared to yesterday.  We are going to spend a quiet day on the boat and I'll check the engine over closely for hard running the next couple days.

Tomorrow and Wednesday are supposed to be the best travel days of the week so we are going to try and make over 100 miles to Titusville.  The Titusville city marina runs moorings there and, if they have one available, we'll pick one up.  Then we'll sit a couple / few days until the weather settles again.  Maybe we will be able to drop the dinghy and take a walk!!  That would be nice.  Today makes a week since we've been off the boat.

Miami to Delray Beach Then to Lake Worth (Days 3 and 4 of isolation cruising)

Thursday, April 16th

Air temp 78, water temp 83, winds light and variable

Once again neither of us slept well because of the heat.  I was in the salon, under an open hatch and it was very warm after the winds died around midnight.  Also around that same time, a small boat came slowly by us blasting Cuban music which woke us both of us.  Some people...

Here was the sunset over Miami last night.  The Sun was so red it almost overwhelmed the camera.  See the red dot?

Anchor up at 0630 as we motored across the bay and into the Government Cut channel.  1/2 hour later we were outside the jetty and turned north toward Ft. Lauderdale.  The ocean was as predicted - calm as a pond.  I gradually worked the boat more off-shore toward the gulf-stream and was rewarded about an hour later when our speed picked up from 6.5 to 8.4 knots.  We were zooming!

While underway, I had been studying the Hillsboro Inlet to see if we could try going in there today.  We would be at Ft. Lauderdale much earlier than planned so had the time off-shore to get to Hillsboro before the winds and rain hit.  I decided to go for it and we bypassed Port Everglades and set course for Hillsboro Inlet - 10 miles farther north.  I also looked at going all the way to Lake Worth inlet but the storms would be hitting this area before we arrived around 4pm.  Major problem was the storms had north winds at 20-30 knots which would pretty much prevent us from making any northern progress.  Other than putting another notch in my helmsman's belt for a new (to us) inlet, going in Hillsboro would bypass 7 bridges that we would have to time and wait for on the ICW.

No problem as we navigated the inlet and only waited about 5 minutes for the Hillsboro Inlet Bridge to open for us.  Then we were back in the ICW for the first time this year.

I was pretty happy that after 28 trips up and down the ICW we still get to experience new things.  Last night was the first time we've anchored near the Key Biscayne Stadium and today we went through a new inlet.  Nice!

Our timing wasn't good for the first couple bridges as we lost about 25 minutes at the first bridge as we would have arrived right after their 1/2 hour opening.  We passed through the first 4 bridges and I was hoping we could make it all the way to Lake Worth for a nice, wide-open anchorage we had used before.  But, it was not to be.  A short time later the skies opened up and rained about the hardest I've ever seen.  I was navigating the narrow ICW by instruments for the next 3 miles at slow speed.

As we passed a possible anchorage at Pelican Harbor, we noticed that only one boat was anchored in a pretty big area.  The rain had let up but hadn't stopped completely as we decided to pull in. Laura went out on the bow to run the anchor windlass.  She was pretty wet already from our quick "rain drill" of closing all the hatches on the boat in about 20 seconds.  Here is a picture she took during the rain squall.  Notice the wind-snakes in the water?  The winds were close to 30 knots.

S/V Marguerite was the other boat anchored in Pelican Harbor and we've talked to them on and off since we left Marathon including today out on the ocean.  They also came into Hillsboro Inlet but about 1/2 hour ahead of us.  After anchoring, I walked out on the bow and talked to the other Captain about how hard the rain was.  He said there had been a tornado watch in the area and he had tried to call me several times on the radio.  I never heard anything on the radio with the wind and rain pounding the boat.

Here is Marguerite next to us in Pelican Harbor.  Pretty calm in here now but the rain is coming and going periodically. 

We are happy to be anchored in a nice protected area with the storms coming through all afternoon.  Since we had to close all our windows with the rain, I started the Honda 2200 generator and turned on our air-conditioner to finally cool down the boat after 3 days of heat and humidity.  It's feeling pretty nice in here!

Laura made homemade pizza for dinner - her famous shrimp and broccoli with Alfredo sauce (eat your hearts our Karen and Jim...).  Afterwards, we watched two "Sherlock"s and 1 Criminal Minds that I had downloaded to my phone from Netflix when we still had wifi.  We watch them on our TV through a HDMI cable and apple "dongle" connected to the phone.

I also hooked up on-line with my friend Wayne to play Pro Pool 2020.  This is a very graphical pool game played on computer or iPad.  Two friends can play each other and you see all the shots the other person is making.  We played each other in bars A LOT 45 years ago and this was a fun reunion as we kept texting each other "want another Genny Cream Ale?" (our drink of choice back then), "next game is for a round of drinks" and such.

By 9pm it had cooled down inside and out so we opened the boat windows and hatches.  I was comfortable and slept really well for the first time since leaving Marathon.

The 20+ knot winds are supposed to last until late morning tomorrow so we'll sleep in and relax in the morning.  Maybe tomorrow afternoon we will motor the 20 miles to Lake Worth and anchor in the lake there which is very protected also.  Then, Saturday looks like a nice traveling day so we'll probably head to Peck Lake or Stuart to hang for a day or two.  We are planning on meeting up with our friends Dean and Sue on S/V Autumn Borne Monday or Tuesday in Vero Beach.  Then we will be traveling together for the next few (several?) weeks as kind of a support team if either of us has problems with our old boats.  Between the two of us we have over 50 trips up and down the ICW and neither Dean nor I let others work on our boat (if we can help it).  We are both very independent cruisers and make an excellent team when traveling together.

Friday, April 17th

Air temp 78, water temp 81, winds E @ 15-18

25 nm today, 165 total from Marathon


After a good nights sleep, we took it easy in the morning then raised anchor at 0930 for a short (distance wise) trip to Lake Worth.  We still had 9 bridges which all opened on their own schedule except 3 which were on-demand.  I had remembered from other passes through here than this section was easy if you could make about 6.5-7 knots.  That would put the boat at the next bridge right in time for their scheduled opening.  Unfortunately, we only make 5.5-6 knots so would be late for several and have to wait 1/2 hour.

But....  The high east winds actually helped us as we rolled out part of the jib between bridges to add a knot or two to the boat speed.  We were able to make all the bridges on their next opening and not wait anywhere.  It was pretty nice.  Four hours later we passed through the Flagler Memorial Bridge - that last bridge for today.  Then it was only 7 miles to the anchorage which we found before the afternoon showers started.  We didn't have to anchor in the rain!

It was a pretty good day on the ICW with lower-than-normal number of boats around and a little cooler with the clouds and nice breeze.  Here is a picture Laura took of the Ocean Avenue Bridge before it opened for us.  She liked the fancy scroll-work on the bridge.

We anchored in Lake Worth Lake near the SW corner and several high-rise condos.  The winds are supposed to go south tonight so this is good protection from the waves and, hopefully, the condos will provide some lightning protection if storms come our way.  Here is our view from the stern while anchored.

Tomorrow we will continue our trip north with a short trip to Hobe Sound or Peck Lake, or a longer trip to Stuart.  Peck Lake is a beautiful anchorage off the ICW with awesome beach access to the ocean (assuming this isolated beach is open).  Because it's so popular, there usually isn't room to anchor comfortably (to my standards).  Maybe with the number of boats being down quite a bit, there will be room for us to anchor and spend an afternoon on the beach - one of Laura's favorite things to do beside snorkeling.

 7 bridges tomorrow if we go past Hobe Sound.  But, they are much farther apart and 3 are on-request.  After that the ICW is pretty open with maybe 1 or two bridges each day.

Marathon to Miami

Tuesday, April 14th

79 degrees outside air temp, 83 degrees water temp, winds SE @ 18 knots

I didn't sleep well and finally got up around 5am to slowly get things ready for leaving today.  The previous evening I had topped off our water tank after our showers and stowed the hose.  Not much left to do.

As I was winding up the power cord, our friends Rich and Marcy (M/V Tanuki), Joyce (M/V Straights Arrow) and Paul (S/V Jenny Lind) were on the dock for goodbyes.  It really sucked that we couldn't hug and kiss for a real goodbye.  We all just stood there talking and finally we got on the boat to leave after telling everyone the cruisers goodbye, "See you soon!".

At 7:15am we backed out of the slip, turned the boat around and headed out of the harbor.  The winds were quite higher than predicted - 18 instead of 10 - and the boat was moving around pretty good as we rounded the SE corner of Boot Key and turned the boat east toward Miami.  Winds were about 50 degrees off our starboard side so we pulled out 3/4 of the mainsail and 3/4 of the jib.  Laura had secured the fridge and freezer doors plus all the big stuff.  But, I think the boat was still overpowered as the boat heeled over and everything downstairs started rearranging itself.  Apparent winds stayed in the high teens all morning as we slogged close-hauled through a 3-4 foot windchop coming off the ocean into the Hawk Channel.  The ride took a while to get use to after 2 months on the dock.  We were only off the dock about an hour when I turned off the engine and we started sailing eastward at 6.5 to 7 knots.

After noon, the winds started dying and even with the full main and jib out the boat slowed to under 6 knots.  We needed to average 6 knots to make Anglefish Creek before low tide blocked off the eastern end for us.  From experience, we know we need at least 1/2 foot of tide to help our 5.5 foot draft keel over the shallow spots.  I started the engine and we motor-sailed for the rest of the day then arrived at Anglefish Creek with plenty of tide for a safe passage.

Laura took this picture during our sail this morning.

1.5 miles through the creek and we were on the calm Biscayne Bay side of Key Largo.  As I turned toward our selected anchorage for the evening, I saw 4 boats already in that area but they were very spaced out.  Still plenty of room for us to anchor behind everyone so we dropped the hook in 8 feet of water then tried to cool off the boat and ourselves.  We were just about a mile NE of Pumpkin Key by the eastern shore.

The temperature had risen during the day to high 80s with very high humidity.  Inside the boat it was over 90 because we had to keep the main hatches closed from the sea spray.    After opening all the hatches, we had a good breeze through the boat so I opened all the engine room doors and closed the main hatch (so the breeze would go through the engine room).  Laura and I then took a nice swim in the 88 degree Biscayne Bay which seemed cooler after we got out into the breeze.  Back in the boat I closed up the engine room so the rest of the boat could cool down now.

After a long day on the water and hot humid evening, neither of us were hungry so we put our planned steaks in the refrigerator to save for tomorrow.  We just had a light snack, watched a few episodes of ER that I have on the computer, and hit the sack early.

It was still 85 in the bedroom and 83 outside.  We have a fan in the cabin that blows on the bed but it wasn't enough for me tonight.  Instead, I slept in the salon under the open hatches with a nice breeze.  Around 6am it was a little cooler in the boat (82) so I went back to the bed and slept in late.

Wednesday, April 15th

83 degrees outside temp, 85 degrees water temp, winds south 15-20

I was pretty pleased that everything on the boat had run well yesterday especially since we check out both motoring and sailing.  This morning was a little different.  Our Electro Scan waste treatment system stopped working and I noticed one of our bilge pumps was on all the time.  I quickly slid down into the engine room and cleaned the sensor on the bilge pump.  It started working nicely a few minutes later.  The Electro Scan was going to wait until we got the boat underway and I could spend a little more time on it.

At 10:10am we raised anchor and motored toward the first of three shallow areas to navigate between Pumpkin Key and Key Biscayne.  No problems other than a high pucker-factor as we cleared the worst part with only 6 inches of water under us.  Of course, then I checked and it was just before low tide.

That first shallow area is the worst so we pulled out the full jib, turned off the engine and sailed the rest of the 25 miles to the Key Biscayne bridge.  It was one of those beautiful sailing days where I didn't touch a sheet for the next 4 hours.  Laura and I remarked on the nice sail several times.  At one point she said, "If sailing was like this all the time, everyone would be doing it!"  Yep.

Our Electro Scan waste treatment system seemed to be working much better after I ran a cleaning cycle with Muriatic acid.  Only time will tell if it lasts.

Not too many boats on the water today in this normally busy area.  As we approached the Key Biscayne Bridge, there were more boats around but they seemed much less than usual.  We had never been through or anchored in the area by the Stadium anchorage off Key Biscayne but it turned out to be very nice.  As we motored around through the anchorage, there were several spots we could have anchored but I decided to anchor outside the harbor where we could get a little more wind through the boat to cool us down.  Once again, it was hot and humid - even on the water.

We anchored just after 3pm with a beautiful view of downtown Miami and great protection from the 15-20 knot south winds.  Here is Laura relaxing in the cockpit with the Miami skyline in the background.

Tomorrow we will raise anchor at first light (or a little earlier) and head out Government Cut for a short leg off-shore to Ft. Lauderdale.  Because of the 56 foot Julia Tuttle Causeway Bridge in Miami, we can't take the ICW through here - our mast is 61 feet over the water.  All the other 1,200 mile ICW fixed bridges are 65 feet at high tide.  Don't know what happened here.  Somebody screwed up?

We always try to make the off-shore run from Miami all the way to Lake Worth when we travel north.  It's about 60 miles so very doable with our 6 knot sailboat in a long day.  However, tomorrow the winds and seas are very calm in the morning until about 4-5pm when storms and rain are predicted for this area.  That's not quite enough time for us to get to the Lake Worth inlet and the winds are supposed to be 20-30 knots from the north - right in our face.

So, we bite the bullet and take the shorter 20 mile trip off-shore to Ft Lauderdale then the ICW north from there.  I say, "bite the bullet" because there are 20 bridges that need to open for us between Ft. Lauderdale and Lake Worth.  Only 3 of them open "on request".  The other 17 open twice an hour on specific times.  In order to make the best of this, I set the next bridge into our GPS which give me an estimated arrival time.  I then adjust our speed so we are at the bridge just before they open.  That prevents trying to keep a 21 ton sailboat in one spot waiting for the bridge with the winds and currents pushing us around.  It's not an impossible or even hard job.  Just takes some diligence to not be 5 minutes late and lose 1/2 hour at each bridge.  Those 1/2 hours add up!

I also saw today that there is a front stalled across northern Florida.  This is causing our hot and humid temps plus squalls and thunderstorms near the front.  (On the other side of the front the temps are 20 degrees cooler.  Don't tell Laura....)  It is supposed to hang there until this weekend then finally move east out to sea.  I think we will slow way down after making Lake Worth so we won't have all of those storms plus we'll be near protected areas with great anchorages.  It's the time of year for them down here but no need to be looking for them.  I'll let you know how it works out.

Final Day in Marathon

Monday, April 13th

I didn't sleep well last night from thinking about things we still needed to do and what I was missing.  When I finally got back to sleep around 5am I slept until almost 10:30.  Whoa!  That makes your day go fast!  My biggest decision was to eat lunch or breakfast.  I decided on lunch of leftover chicken a la king from dinner last night.

Laura went to Publix with a huge list of final groceries (and a little booze of course) while I started a good wash-down of the boat.  This might be our last "free" water for the next month or more so I took advantage and spent almost 2 hours cleaning the decks, dinghy, solar panels and cockpit with a scrub brush and soft-scrub.

In the middle of my cleaning, Laura came back with a full trunk of groceries.  I helped unload everything into our salon then went back to cleaning.

Since I had been running the hose for quite a while, I filled up our water tank with fresh water.  We will need to top it off tomorrow morning before we leave but the 180 gallons I put in the tank today was very fresh.

Our $400 of groceries are all put away after we vacuum-sealed the last of our fresh meat.  Storage shelves, fridge and both freezers are stacked to the top.  Here is a happy Laura (everything is put away) with our full big freezer.  Our smaller freezer (70 liter) is also full to the top.

Now to get the boat ready for leaving our slip and tieing up at the marina fuel dock.  We don't need fuel but it will make everything much easier when leaving tomorrow morning.

It is now 7:30pm and we're sitting in the salon after dinner.  I've had two glasses of tequila during our going-away party so am not typing very well right now but need to get this on-line before we leave tomorrow. 'nuff said....

Just before 4pm we got the boat ready to leave the dock.  I walked to our neighbors and asked them to help us leave as we were facing east in our dock and the winds were 10-15 from the SE so would be blowing us sideways a bit.  Here is the picture of the stern of our boat from the slip we've been in for the past 2 months.  See how close the boats are behind us?  It is only about 50 feet between the boats of our marina and the marina on the other side of the canal.  Second Wind is 48 feet length-over-all so we have to be very careful.

With everyone in place, we untied our lines and power cord and backed out of the slip.  Just at that moment, the wind died and the boat handled very nicely as we backed to the north and motored forward out of the canal.  5 minutes later we tied up at the end of Burdines fuel dock so we could leave easily tomorrow morning.  Here is the picture off our stern where we are now.  That's the ocean directly behind the boat and about 150 feet between us and the dock behind us.  Quite a difference!

After we docked, I brought the car back to Willem and he drove me back to the marina where we had a cocktail (6 feet apart of course) and talked for awhile as we said our goodbyes and had a fun with our ad-hock going-away party.  Sorry.  No pics as I was having fun.

Later in the evening we decided to have take-out from the marina restaurant on our last night here.  We ordered their huge blackened-fish sandwich and mega-fries (they don't have a small version) which we split between us.  Laura cooked some bacon which we always add to the fish sandwich.  For some reason, I can't convince the restaurant to do this on their own.

We are both looking forward to leaving tomorrow and have talked several times about the pros and cons of leaving or staying.  Randy, the marina manager, made it easier on us when he said tonight, "Feel free to come back anytime.  We will always have a slip for you."

Preparations For Trip North

Sunday, April 12th

The last few days we seriously started preparations for our trip north to the Hudson River from our Winter home in the Florida Keys.  It is quite different this year with the COVID-19 lock-down as we try to limit trips to stores.  We try to make good lists so we get everything we need in as few trips as possible.

For about 6 weeks in February and March I kept close track of weather windows for sailing to The Bahamas.  I was looking for good sailing longer than a day that would let us get east at least to Nassau.  If we took a short window to Bimini, we could be there for weeks waiting for the trade winds to die or clock.  So, we stayed at our dock in Burdines having fun with our friends and hanging out.

That all changed near the end of March when COVID-19 spread to Europe then to the U.S.  All vacationers to The Keys were told to leave and we worried that we would be told to go also.  To prepare, I jugged diesel and gas from the marina fuel dock to fill up our diesel tank (about 32 gallons) and filled our gas jugs (20 gallons) for generator and outboard.  Laura also stocked up our freezers and food storage which we've kept full.  But, it turns out that we were allowed to stay because we were long-term renters.  We had been here since December 5th.

Laura and I walk about every other day on the walking-path along US1.  Our main topic of conversation has been "Do we stay here or head north?".  Up until now, states along the coast were changing their marina rules daily so we were not sure if we could get fuel, water and groceries along the way.  That all seems to have settled out now with only a few places we typically stop being closed.  Of course everyone is social-isolating and basically self-service plus stay on the boat.  That's OK with us as we prefer to anchor out most of the time anyway.

Another part of the "stay or leave" equation has been the Florida Keys seem pretty safe right now.  But, with the exception of New York, states up the coast don't seem to have many hot-spots worse than here so that somewhat levels out.  If we stayed here past April, we know from experience that it starts getting hot.  Daily highs in the 90s with high humidity.  Later in the summer we would need to start worrying about hurricanes and associated boat insurance issues.  Time to go...

My current long-term plan is to take a month or so and travel up the coast to Chesapeake Bay.  There are several isolated anchorages where we could stay there for several months with only periodic trips to grocery stores nearby.  We won't go from there into NY until it's safe.

I've been running our main engine and Honda generator every week or so to make sure everything is in working order.  Laura has also been stocking up (hoarding?) on many staples which would allow us to stay isolated at anchor for probably close to two months if we had to.  We do have a watermaker on the boat that we haven't used in several years but it worked fine back then.  This time of year our solar panels and wind generator would just about supply all of our daily power requirements with the exception of a couple cloudy and calm days in a row.  Then we would have to run our Honda generator for a few hours but we keep 20 gallons of gasoline in jugs which would run it about  80-100 hours in battery-charging mode.

Other than stocking up and preparing the boat, we only had a few projects that we wanted to finish before we left.  One was to put new soundproofing on two of our engine room doors to quiet down the engine noise while underway.  There was some sound insulation on the doors but it was looking pretty bad.  After much research, I purchased two sheets of 1 inch composite foam insulation from Jamestown Distributors that was highly recommended for engine rooms.  Last Friday, Laura and I started by stripping the old insulation off the first door then drawing a line on the door when it was closed so we could bring the new insulation right to the edges of the opening.  Here is Laura using Acetone to remove all the old glue after we scraped off the insulation.  Sorry it's a little fuzzy.  I guess she was working!

Next we took the door outside to the marina tiki-hut, measured the new insulation, cut it out and used Gorilla spray adhesive on the door and foam.  After pressing it down well, we used Aluminum tape to seal around all the edges.  Here I am on the salon table finishing up the tape.

Surprisingly, the door fit excellent when we put it back on.  Here is the finished first door back on the engine room.

Saturday, we made quick work of the second door which leads to the engine room from our stand-up shower.  Everything fit on that one too!

I then took the left-over soundproofing and re-insulated around our freezer compressor box which is also in the engine room.  After we installed the new refrigeration 3 years ago, the engine seemed much louder in the galley.  I can't wait to see how much difference it all makes.  Cost of the two 1" X 32" X 54" sheets was $230 including shipping.  Not cheap!

For the past couple weeks, Laura has been working on making new hatch covers for our main deck hatches.  The old covers were over 10 years old and falling apart.  She purchased the material and hardware from Salrite and worked on them every few days.  On Friday I installed them all by pressing in new snaps to hold down the 4 corners on each one.  Here I am installing the last snap.

My last boat project before leaving was to wash and put preservative on our cockpit bimini.  I try to do this twice a year and it was overdue.  I needed to do this before we left because it uses a lot of water.  Today, while Laura was cleaning and packing away her inflatable kayak, I scrubbed all the bird-poop off the bimini then washed and dried it well.  I then put a heavy coat of 303 Aerospace Protectant which I spread with a clean cloth.  It usually makes the bimini look like new again but now it it getting pretty old.  We're planning on making a new one this summer at the marina where we can use the picnic tables to lay everything out.  It does look much better!

Now there are only a few items on our list before we leave.  Tuesday seems like the best day to sail north with 2 days of predicted southeast winds which will get us to Miami or Biscayne Bay.  Then everything calms down on Thursday so we can run off-shore to Lake Worth.  But...  Thursday starts the Spring string of daily thunderstorms which we'll be playing with for the next several weeks.  Wish us luck!