April 10th- Vero Beach, FL

Due to the various shelter orders, marina closures, and general covid-19 mayhem, we decided to spend another month in Vero Beach. We have the mooring until May 2nd. We’ll reassess the situation in May.

We’re still working on our sail repair. Lynne stitched 30 feet of material along the edge. It was difficult work (especially working at a picnic table). We had help from several different cruisers over the day. Social distancing is difficult when people are trying to work together. We tried. I still have some hand sewing to do.

Ollie is examining the area to be repaired. The sail is rolled up so we can feed it through the machine. The whole operation took 4 people.

It’s getting summery in Vero. Yesterday’s high temperature was 91 degrees. It’s been in the upper 80s most of the week. I bought a very light nylon awning (rainfly) used for camping along with some pvc poles. I sewed on some extra webbing to attach some light lines to fasten the whole thing up in the rigging. It throws some extra shade over the deck and keeps the cabin a little cooler. Unfortunately when the wind blows the whole setup has to come down as it catches the wind like a kite.


Catalpa at her Vero Beach mooring with her new awning.  They didn’t have white so I went with brown (the standard Cape Dory color).

Another issue has been noseeums. Noseeums are very small flying bugs that bite. Normal screens don’t keep them out as they can wiggle through the openings in the mesh. We found this out the hard way. I woke in the middle of the night thinking I was having some kind of allergic skin reaction. I was having a skin reaction due to bites. Thankfully we have some special noseeum netting aboard. We had already made a special screen for the front hatch. A few small improvements and that entry point was closed off to the little bastards. We netted off the companion way hatch and closed the rest of the ports, which only have normal screens. It’s a little hotter in the cabin but no bugs. It’s not much of a problem during the day as there is usually some kind of breeze so the bugs stay in the mangroves. At night things calm down and they attack. We also have bug spray, candles, and incense. All of this seems to be working. Olliver hates the bug spray but I hate the bugs MORE.

That’s the news from Vero. Captain and crew are healthy. Catalpa is holding up well. We’ve been getting together with friends at a socially acceptable distance. We had a birthday gathering with the crews of Gelato and Pepromenon. We had pizza delivered. Pepromenon has a freezer. They brought brownies and…. ICE CREAM!! The first ice cream we’ve had since last summer.

Stay safe. Happy Easter.

Some scenes from Vero Beach. Beaches are all closed. Olliver isn’t too happy about that. Maybe we’ll go on an early morning commando raid one of these days.

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.

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.

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.

March 10th- Miami Marine Stadium to Fort Lauderdale, FL

We spent several days in Miami Marine Stadium waiting for the winds to subside. The wind was still strong today but we were ready to move on. If it had calmed down a bit more I was going to sail up the coast to Port Everglades. We’d avoid 8 bridges by doing so. Wind and waves kept us on the ICW though and we tried to make the scheduled openings with varying levels of success.

Goodbye Miami.

Back in mansion land.

Our day ended in Fort Lauderdale. We called ahead to the Los Olas Marina and found their mooring field was once again operational. On the way down it was closed. The mooring gave us easy access to a dinghy dock, showers, and the Ft Lauderdale beach area. We decided to stay an extra day. I heard rumors of an excellent French Bakery in town. Lynne did most of the exploration work in Fort Lauderdale. I couldn’t handle the crowds. It’s Spring Break! Noooooo…….

Maybe the sun and beer kills COVID-19?

Lynne also visited the Swimming Hall of Fame. Apparently they used much more material to produce a bathing suit in the past.

This was Lloyd Bridges’ Sea Hunt outfit.

The French Bakery was worth the stop. We loaded up with quiche, croissants, and French bread. A couple of days later, we used the French Bread to grill the best pizza we’ve been able to produce on Catalpa.

March 12th- Fort Lauderdale to Lantana, FL

16 bridges. On the way down South we split the day up by staying over night in Boca Raton. Today I decided to push on to Lantana. We didn’t arrive at Lantana until 7:00. The sun doesn’t set until 7:30 so we didn’t have to navigate in the dark.

While entering the anchorage area I went a little too far in and ran Catalpa aground for the first time. I knew we were going to bottom out and managed to turn around before we stopped. FLANK SPEED AHEAD!! We plowed our way into deeper water and drop the hook for the night. The end of a long day.

March 13th and 14th- Lantana to Lake Worth, West Palm Beach FL

Today we headed up to Lake Worth and anchored near the Palm Beach Sailing Club.

On our trip South there were far more boats anchored in Lake Worth than present. I imagine many have headed over to the Bahamas. This particular anchorage is pretty exposed but the next few days look good. We’ll stay here until Monday. The Florida ICW, from Miami to the St Lucie Inlet, is like the Cross Bronx Expressway on the weekends. It’s filled with small power boats. Many seem to have almost no idea what they are doing. Maneuvering Catalpa in a current, while waiting for a bridge, can be difficult enough. Throw another 15 small power boats into the mix. We avoid moving on the weekends.

Today (Saturday the 14th) Ollie was happy to visit several of the waterfront parks. He seems to remember them all. We are still having some difficulty with leash walking so he and I are getting some practice in. Lynne found a decent grocery store up the road so we stocked up on some fresh food.

Palm Beach Sailing Club.

One of Ollie’s parks. We are trying to cut back on some of the frisbee action until the leash walking improves. That’s today’s idea anyway.

Not sure what kind of boat this is but I believe it’s a fiberglass version of a Munroe design. I’d like to find out more about it. I think I’ve seen one up North also.

Catalpa anchored in Lake Worth.

March 3rd- Marathon to Barley Basin, Islamorada FL

We got a, somewhat, late start out of Boot Key Harbor today. Ollie had to “say goodbye” to the marina staff. He had his picture taken for a doggy wall of fame. We then waited for the cruisers net to announce our departure. I think I mentioned in another post, that when we stay in port for a while, we feel like we put down roots. It’s difficult to leave. Another week on the mooring maybe? We dropped our lines and headed out into a windy morning.

Goodbye harbor. It was amazingly calm in here this morning. Not so on the outside, near 7 mile bridge.

I immediately noticed a significant reduction in speed while motoring. I guess this was a manifestation of Catalpa putting down roots. One thing that I didn’t check before leaving was the bottom of the boat.

Part of my spring commissioning process is painting the bottom of Catalpa. This is a copper based anti-fouling paint that keeps barnacles from growing. It doesn’t need to be done every year but I usually add more paint anyway. I also paint the propeller with a similar paint but this wears off in a few months. It all works well in New England. Not the case in Marathon. We had the bottom cleaned up in Vero so I didn’t think there would be a problem. Apparently the sea critters in the Keys are not bothered by our paint.

Once out of the harbor I was able to raise some sail and pick up some speed. We hooked behind Vaca Key for a great sail on Florida Bay. The Keys blocked most of the wave action but we still had a good wind driving us toward our destination.

Our salt covered vessel flew into the anchorage at Islamorada just before sunset. I got Ollie in to shore. We had hot dogs and chili for a quick traveling meal.

We saw this beautiful boat ghosting along in the evening. I think it’s a sharpie.

In the morning, we had a sea plane land nearby.

March 4th- Islamorada to Black Water Sound, Key Largo, FL

On our trip down I was concerned about getting stuck in some shallow spots. On my GPS (navigation aid) I was able to lay a trail on the screen showing where I passed through on the map. This made getting back a cakewalk as I had a safe path.

We still had good wind and weather driving us along. I had to motor through the cuts in the mangroves but was able to sail the bays.

We made good time to Key Largo and got there early in the day. I donned my snorkeling gear and jumped over the side to see what was going on under the hull. As suspected, the prop was covered in barnacles and there was quite a bit on the hull also. The water around Key Largo is very clear so it was easy to see the problem. Our water up north it is mostly a murky green/black. I’m no diver but an hour later I had scraped clean the propeller and some of the hull. I also swam down to see the anchor on the bottom. Our new anchor is digging in well (so far).

Another sunset at Key Largo with rum drinks in the cockpit. Too many sunset photos? Maybe.

March 5th and 6th- Key Largo to Marine Stadium, Miami, FL

We feel like it’s August. Not Florida August, Massachusetts August. The wind was still from a favorable direction but it had died down quite a bit. The sun was blazing today. These past few days have been really nice. It feels good to get “out there” again.

Catalpa was gliding through Biscayne Bay, nothing around us for miles. No land, no boats. Just 8 feet of crystal clear water beneath us and the sun above. Eventually we turned off of the ICW path and dropped the hook in the middle of the bay for a swim. We felt like we were in our own universe. A half hour later we were back on track to Miami.

My hull and prop cleaning seems to have helped a lot. Our speed is much better with less vibration. It’s still not perfect. Maybe I’ll work on it more at the next anchorage.

Still flying the BKH burgee.

Approaching Miami. A big Regata.

The end of the day had us anchored back at the Miami Marine Stadium again. Crews are still working to disassemble the Miami Boat Show. They were setting it up when last we were here. Most of the piers are gone. We had a quiet night.

Today (Friday the 6th) we had some rain in the morning. Catalpa needed a wash down. We were even able to gather a few gallons of water. In the future I plan on setting up a more efficient system for catching rain water. It beats lugging big cans of water around.

Back to civilization.

It looks like we’re going to have some heavy winds until Monday or Tuesday. We are going to sit here until it clears out. Despite jet skis and speed boats with poor taste in music, this a good/safe harbor. We have plenty of provisions. The only thing we needed was ice. We stopped over at the marina and grabbed 30lbs (along with a pastrami sandwich).

March 2nd- Boot Key Harbor, Marathon FL

We’ve spent another week lounging around in Boot Key Harbor. Notable happenings- Diesel Don broke the record for the longest BKH cruisers net broadcast (2 hrs and 23 minutes). These morning broadcasts generally run an hour or less. Also of note, Oliver has caught his frisbee 1000 more times.

Zeroing in….

Launch!!!

He is pleased with today’s performance.

On the subject of Oliver, he has an island girlfriend (Sophie). We can’t get within 100 yards of her without him crying and yelping. They love to wrestle. She’s a little bigger than him and tires him out (a seemingly impossible task).

They just roll around when they start getting tired.

We had planned to head over to Key West at some point but the days have been too breezy for the anchorage area. The other option is a marina but they are very expensive. I’ve been watching the weather and the calendar. We feel it’s time to head back to the main-land again. Today was supposed to be departure day. The wind was blowing 15 to 20 out of the east this morning. We have to go east before turning north. That would put the wind right on the nose. A difficult day for a sail boat. Tomorrow is going to have a more southerly component to the wind so tomorrow is The Day. The extra day of rest was appreciated as it was difficult to get Catalpa ready to sail again. She’s now loaded with food, water, booze, propane, ice, and diesel. The hull has grown some barnacles and sea weed in the warm waters of the Keys. I might throw a mask on and try to scrape some of it off in one of the anchorages along the way. If that doesn’t work out, we’ll hire a diver again up in Vero Beach.

We’ve been in Boot Key Harbor for over a month and a half. We made many friends and will miss them. We’re also going to miss the Rumbrella Regatta. This is a dinghy race where umbrellas are the only form of propulsion and an oar, the only steerage. The prize: a bottle of rum. I’m sure all umbrellas are sold out on the whole island. We’ll be back someday with several umbrellas. This whole trip has been a life changing experience for us.

The amphitheater at the park where Ollie may, or may not, play (no dogs allowed). Lynne takes yoga there in the morning.

Dad, can we kidnap Sophie?

We were serenaded with many conch horns tonight. We believe they were practicing for the Regatta.

February 25th- Boot Key Harbor, Marathon FL

We are still on the mooring in Boot Key Harbor. We’ve had plans to leave for the past few weeks but keep extending our stay. Marathon is a nice place to be stuck at. Lynne has been taking yoga, going to Bahamas seminars, and gardening. Ollie has become the Marina greeter. I’ve been reading and fixing stuff.

I’ve never met this person before but somehow we had the same outfit on. Maybe it’s some kind of Florida uniform?

One old salty definition of voyaging is: boat repair in exotic places. Since we will eventually be traveling a couple thousand miles north, I’ve been trying to go through Catalpa and check all of the systems out. We had a problem with one of the water tanks but managed to clean it out and treat the water. Our batteries needed to be switched around and topped off with distilled water. Another day was “engine day.” Working on the engine starts by emptying the cockpit lockers. The lockers are very deep, bulk storage, and hold a lot of gear. I have to distribute this all over the deck. This opens up a small area where I can get at the back of the diesel. Inside Catalpa the companionway stairs are removable and this opens up the front of the motor. By this point, moving around the boat is similar to traversing an obstacle course. Lynne and Oliver go to shore as it’s difficult to function in Catalpa and I’m usually not good company by this point. The worst part of the job is contorting my body to squeeze behind the engine. When we first bought Catalpa (12 years ago) I was almost too rotund to fit. Luckily my waist size has gone down a few inches.

It was good that I checked on the engine and have spare parts. We had a broken water pump (impeller) again. The fin from the impeller was stuck in the heat exchanger. Change the impeller , disassemble the heat exchanger, etcetera . Since I was having such a good time I also did an oil change, swapped out the fuel filter, and the air filter. After all that it was time for a beer.

Catalpa’s Beta Marine diesel. The heat exchanger is on the upper right. Engine is about 6 years old. I keep a neat engine room. No rust!

We’ve loaded up with food and water but weather prevents us from leaving. The weather is good but we keep having these weather fronts moving through with strong northerly winds. We’re looking for a weather window with no north wind for Key West. I think this is all part of the Keys winter weather pattern. We’ll reassess the situation toward the end of the week.

Some views of the dinghy canal at Marathon. Inflatables are far more popular than rigid dinks.

The marina office.

The sea-dog. He’s always ready to go for a ride.

Mooring field.

Catalpa moored with the Admiral waving me in.

After a long day the pirate is finally asleep on the main sheet block and tackle.

February 15th- Boot Key Harbor, Marathon FL

A belated Happy Valentine’s Day. We had Valentine’s breakfast at a Cuban Restaurant (5 stars). It was over 80 degrees so we then went to the beach. Many sailors were heading out to the reefs to go snorkeling. Since we have almost no snorkeling experience we decided to try it out at the beach. Unfortunately, the water was very cloudy so we couldn’t really see anything. We enjoyed the swimming anyway. Ollie was like a fish. Later in the day we headed back to Catalpa for grilled steaks and a nice sunset.

Oliver was tired from all of his swimming activity.

By the time we got to Marathon, a month ago, Catalpa was looking pretty rough. The hull was stained from the tea colored ICW water (called ICW moustache). My varnished teak was beat up. Our American Flag was in tatters by Vero Beach. We replaced old glory when we were there. The Cuttyhunk Burgee made it all the way to Boot Key Harbor but it was also shredded. The hull is now white again and I’ve managed to touch up the varnish a bit.

We discovered, on the radio net, that a woman on Invictus makes BKH burgees. We promptly ordered one. She also made us a custom Catalpa flag.

The new Boot Key Harbor burgee. We still love Cuttyhunk too. We’ll get a new Cuttyhunk flag when we get back.

The Catalpa burgee. I’ve wanted one for years.

More bling. Catalpa also got a new anchor.

One more for the road. I found these colorful fish interesting.

We’re here for at least another week. Then we’ll go West.

February 9th- Boot Key Harbor, Marathon FL

We’re still floating around in the East end of Boot Key Harbor. It’s well protected on all sides so Catalpa doesn’t move much, even when there is some wind.

The dinghy channel, at the city marina, has been visited by various manatees over the past week or so. This momma and baby were around for a few days. One evening I watched the baby eat seaweed off of the seawall.

Another day, this beast was spotted at The Dockside.

Later in the evening the same beast was still prowling around for any food that hit the deck.

We watched some karaoke before heading back to Catalpa for some much-needed sleep.

We heard, on the radio net, that there was going to be a “turtle release ” at Sombrero Beach this morning. We grabbed some coffee, hopped in the dinghy, and went to check it out. There is lots of local support for the Turtle Hospital and their mission. These events are well attended.

I was a little concerned that Ollie might not act appropriately at the site of a big turtle. Since everyone at the beach was watching the turtle, Ollie and I got some exercise (off leash) at a distance. Lynne managed to work her way through the crowd.

This young green sea turtle was found last June. Terri had surgery and was rehabilitated at the turtle hospital. Fair winds and following seas Terri.