March 15th- Lake Worth, West Palm Beach FL

Another day at the Palm Beach Sailing Club. We were visited by my Father and wife today and had dinner at the club. There was a lot of traffic moving through Lake Worth so I think the decision to stay off the ICW was a sound one. It was nice to relax for another day and get caught up with family.

This is Will from Climate Kayak. He is piloting a 14′ sailing kayak from Miami to Virginia. Along the way he is recording conversations and documenting climate change. This is, by far, the smallest boat we’ve seen traversing the Intracoastal.

All of the cruise ships are now in port due to the Coronavirus.

March 16th and 17th- Lake Worth to Hobe Sound, FL

We navigated our way back up through Jupiter to Hobe Sound. At one point we have to go through 2 bridges in Jupiter inlet. They are about a half mile apart. Due to the flood tide one bridge had a 3 knot current opposing us. The other bridge had a 3 knot current pushing us toward it. Thankfully both bridge tenders are wise to the problem and time their respective bridge openings well. One should not attempt to pass under a 25′ bridge with a 41′ mast clearance requirement.

Jupiter Island on the east side of Hobe Sound.

For most of this trip I’ve managed to avoid television (we don’t have one). I’ve also tried to stay away from the news in general. This was a conscious decision on my part as I generally read the AP news wire every day. With all the disturbing news about the Coronavirus I’ve been trying to keep up with developments in Massachusetts and Florida. I don’t know if this is going to change the way we are doing this trip. Decisions. Apparently things are flying off the shelves at grocery stores. We have plenty of food, water, and diesel (thank you Dennis), so no problems there. I guess we just have to be careful. I hope everyone stays well. Ironically, Lynne and I both recently read Station 11 (thank you Janice). Great book. Don’t read it until all this blows over.

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day. All the bars in Massachusetts are closed. Hard to imagine. We decided to stay another day in Hobe Sound. We are in a secluded spot with our own private beach. We went swimming yesterday and will be doing the same today. Ollie loves it. He is once again a sandy, salty, mess.

Our private beach.

Clean sheets on the bed? Me and Blue Monkey will fix that.