March 27th- Vero Beach, FL

My calendar says we’ve been in Vero for a week. The weather has mostly been sunny. Mid 80s during the day. Mid 60s at night. We haven’t had any rain since Miami and there is none in the forecast. Perfect weather for two people and a dog, living on a small boat.

We’ve mostly been “sheltering” on Catalpa. We bring Ollie to shore 3 times a day, either to the dog park (his preference) or we wander around the beautiful neighborhood that surrounds the marina.

We have everything we need on the boat. We tend to stock up whenever we hit the grocery store. Most of my nautical library consists of books written by cruisers that have circumnavigated the globe. For a couple weeks on Buzzards Bay and Vineyard Sound, I’ve been known to resupply like I’m going to the Azores. Catalpa is sitting low on her waterline but I’m glad we have supplies. We go through about 10lbs of ice a day so that is a commodity that is always being replenished. Blocks of ice last much longer than cubes but I’ve not located blocks since leaving New England.

Live oak tunnel.

Bismarck Palm.

Admiral and crew on an outing.

There are a few coronavirus cases in this county but everyone on the moorings and docks seem ok. The marina has shut down the lounge and removed the chairs from the lawn. There is usually a mandatory boat rafting rule here. This means boats tie up 2 or 3 to a mooring. That rule is on hold for now so we are alone on our mooring. The restaurants and bars are closed. The beaches and parks are also closed.

The other day I removed our genoa (sail) to look at the damage. The leech (trailing edge) is torn up and the leech line is coming out of the sail. Mack Sails in Stuart does repairs and normally will pick up the sail from Vero Beach. Due to the virus they are no longer offering that service. In addition they have a three week backlog. I was going to rent a car and bring it there but decided not to. If Florida shuts down non essential businesses my sail might be stuck in limbo. We’re going to do the repair ourselves. Originally we were going to hand stitch the repair but some friends have a sewing machine. Lynne knows how to stitch. I don’t, but I’ll drag the sail around and lend moral support. I think we can handle this.

A shady spot for the sail.

I’ve read that the Florida Keys are shut down. The whole county has banned all tourism. Hotels are closed. The marinas are all closed to short term transients. I think it’s the same in Miami and Ft Lauderdale. So far, the Vero Beach City Marina says they are going to stay open.

That’s the story from Vero Beach. We’re going to stay here for the near future. This is the second time I’ve attempted to post. I lost the first one. I am having great difficulty uploading images. I’m not sure if my Word Press app is not working right or the internet is clogged up. I think it’s the latter.

Stay healthy.

Some gallows humor. This boat is moored near us.