March 18th- Hobe Sound to Fort Pierce, FL

We felt at peace for our couple days in Hobe Sound. I think we needed a little time to process all the pandemic (and economic) information. The weather has been great so there is no need to follow a specific weather window for the time being.

Our Hobe beach.

Our waterlogged pirate.

Golf course, just before the Hobe Sound Bridge (heading north)

We made good time along the ICW today and bypassed our original goal (Jensen Beach). We continued North to Fort Pierce. Lynne made a call to the Causeway Cove Marina and found us a mooring ball for the night. We’ve since found out that the Ft. Pierce city marina is taking no new transient boats due to coronavirus. We are starting to wonder if this is going to become an issue for us. We mostly anchor out but do need to make stops for food, ice, etc.

A cousin to Swampfox?

March 19th and 20th- Fort Pierce to Vero Beach, FL

The Causeway Marina has nice grounds. Ollie got to play some of his games before shoving off. There is quite a bit of current in the area due to the Ft. Pierce inlet. The combination of the current and a southerly wind made for a loud night. Clanging rigging. Occasionally Catalpa would ram into the mooring ball. The hull would resonate like a kettle drum. The bleary eyed captain and crew pushed on to our next destination.

Today was a short day. The wind pushed us along at good speed. We pulled into Vero around 2:00 and tied to the pier to fill the tanks and pumpout. We immediately noticed a change since our last stop a few months ago. The dock hand seemed nervous about the current state of affairs. The marina office was closed with a “takeout window” for registration. Overall, the entire place is much quieter. Many boats have left and continue to do so. We took care of our business and moved Catalpa to mooring ball #29.

Soon after a few of our friends came by to get us caught up on current affairs. We all practiced social distancing. It’s possible that I may have been practicing social distancing my entire life. It was good to see friends and to be in a familiar spot. One is a nurse and gave us some good ideas for staying safe.

Plan A was to move on up to Georgia for April. Change of plans. We are going to stay in Vero Beach for at least a week or two (maybe longer). We want to see what happens in the near future before making any plans. Vero has a good local hospital run by Cleveland Clinic. According to their website, they have been preparing for this problem for a couple months. I think the public transportation may have shut down but we still have feet. We’d most likely not get on the bus if it was available. It’s possible that I might be able to take the dinghy up some canals to get closer to a grocery store. More research on that subject is necessary. For now, we have everything we need. We are mostly just hanging out on Catalpa. We had been using marina showers but have stopped. We have a solar shower bag. It’s not luxurious, but it does the job. We may reassess the shower thing when we understand the situation better.

While here I’m ordering more engine parts. We are also thinking about getting some paint and varnish for Catalpa. Our genoa (sail) has some damage and we are looking for someone to repair it. We need a diver to clean the hull. Boat maintenance must continue!!!

Oliver has already been to the dog park twice. He’s happy to be back in Velcro Beach also. This morning he got to romp around with another border collie of the same age.

Vero Beach City Mooring field. No waves in here. We are surrounded on all sides.

We had a great steak dinner last night. The weather is perfect. Not a bad place to be stuck for a while.