Sunday morning we left Catskill NY and made our way up the Hudson River. In the town of Troy we passed through our first lock of the trip. Once through the lock we turned off the Hudson onto the Mohawk River to the town of Waterford.

Waterford has an excellent free city dock and the visitor center has showers and restrooms. The docks are free for 48 hours and electricity is $6 a day. We were initially planning on staying one night, but decided to spend an extra night. On the Hudson we took a large boat wake on the beam and as our boat rocked sideways, we noticed one of our mast cradles really needed to be reinforced. The temperatures were also going to be near 100 with high humidity and we needed the air conditioning.

I brought spare lumber in case I needed to make repairs along the way. What I didn’t have was a power saw and the wood I needed to cut would have taken hours with the hand saws I had. Did I mention it’s also hot outside? I broke down, walked to the hardware store and bought a power saw. By noon, we had the extra bracing in place and we’re ready to move on.

The locks open at 7AM, and we’re hoping to be there at opening. We’re going to try and push to Amsterdam NY as our next stop. They also have free walls with electricity. Most towns have free walls, but few have electricity, so we don’t mind getting up early and pushing if it means air conditioning at the end of the day.

We also ran to the grocery store to pick up more seltzer water and fresh fruit and vegetables. We would have liked to have explored some of the parks in the area, but it was too miserable outside.

Sue’s cousin from Boulder told us about the Erie Canal song (‘Low Bridge, Everybody Down’), which neither of us heard of before. I’m not surprised I didn’t know it, but I would have thought Folk Music fan Sue would have known it. Give it a listen on You Tube if you have a chance. It’s a catchy tune and I’m sure we’ll be humming it as we make our way to Buffalo.

The Erie Canal wasn’t supposed to open until August 7th. Sue and I took an Amtrak train to Chicago for a two week visit while we waited for the canal to open. We made it back to the boat Wednesday afternoon. Thursday afternoon, we get an email from the canal authority that locks 16-20 will be open Friday morning at 7AM.

What?!?!? It’s lock 19 and 20 that were not scheduled to open until August 7th. They were the ones that were stopping through traffic. I would have expected an email that said the entire canal is now open, but no, just a simple 16-20 will be open tomorrow.

We belong to the AGLCA, the America’s Great Loop Cruisers Association. They’ve been a great help to boaters during the virus and the falls outs such as the Erie Canal delayed opening. They’ve been in constant contact with the Canal Authority and have been passing on as much information as possible. They’ve also been trying to coordinate all the boats so we don’t overload the canal when they open.

Well, they were surprised by the email too. They called and got verification, the canal is fully open for through traffic. No need to coordinate the boats; most are weeks away, as they’ve been planning on it opening in August.

We kicked it into high gear and were able to get cradles built to hold the mast on Friday. On Saturday, we had the crane pick up our mast and lower it onto the boat. Sunday morning, we’re leaving Catskill and heading up the Hudson River to Waterford, which is the start of the Erie Canal. If all goes as planned, we’ll enter the canal Monday morning.

There are three routes connecting the Great Lakes to the oceans: the St. Lawrence Seaway, the Illinois River to the Tenn-Tom water way, and the Erie Canal. Any of the three are great for going to the ocean. This year, the Erie Canal is the only practical way back.

The St Lawerence Seaway, which is the route we took leaving the Great Lakes, has several issues. The border between the US and Canada is still closed. And, the current in the River is too strong for a sailboat to try and motor up. Summer might be over before we made it upstream. We’d also need a tanker following us to keep me refueled.

The Illinois River and Tenn-Tom waterway is doable for a sailboat going upstream. The problem is the Army Corp of Engineers, who manage the locks, have been planning for several years now, to close the locks on the Illinois River for the 2020 season to do much needed maintenance.

That leaves the Erie Canal as the best, quickest, and easiest route to get back to the Great Lakes. Unfortunately, we will have to unstep our mast to transit the Erie Canal, and there are other issues this year as well.

In a normal year, maintenance crews start working on the canal in March to get it ready for the May 15th opening date. During the height of the virus, the canal was deemed non-essential and work crews were sent home. At one point, there was talk of not even opening the canal in 2020. When the maintenance crews were finally allowed to return to work, they were a couple of months behind and much of the work couldn’t be accelerated.

On May 15th, the Canal sent out an opening schedule email. It had lots of TBDs and dates ranging from July 3rd to August 10th, but the canal was going to open. We wanted to go through the canal as soon as possible so we decided we get to New York early hoping they would get the canal opened early. We were hoping for the July 3rd date. It happened, but it didn’t.

Technically, the canal opened on June 26, several days ahead of schedule. Boating friends have been forwarding me articles about the canal being opened. What the articles fail to mention is the canal isn’t completely open. Each route has at least one lock that won’t open until August 10th. It is not possible to go end to end. You can make it half way, then turn around and come back, you can’t go through.

The latest is the canal won’t be open to through traffic until August 10th. So, here we sit in up state New York waiting.

Early on, we talked to a couple of transport companies to have our mast shipped from Albany to Buffalo. Most sailboats strap the mast on deck and bring it with. Our mast is 20 feet longer than our boat, so I’d have a lot of overhang I’d have to deal with while docking and locking, so I was thinking about having it shipped.

One of the transport companies also included a quote on having the boat and mast shipped. When we heard the canal wasn’t going to “open” until August 10th, I started making more calls to see if I could have the boat shipped to Buffalo and skip the canal altogether. There are a lot of boats queued up waiting for it to open. The first few days are going to be busy trying to get through the canal. If I shipped, I’d be beating the crowds.

For more than a week, we kept going back and forth about shipping the boat. One day it would seem like the best idea in the world, the next day, I was crazy to ship the boat. The decision has been made, and we are going to put the mast on the boat and motor up the canal. No shipping any of it.

What I came to learn is it sounds simple to throw your boat on a trailer and pull it behind a truck, but not for a boat the size of Odyssey. Boats need to be prepared for shipping and it’s a fair amount of work. The shipping company has to work on getting oversized load permits. Once the boat is shipped, the receiving marina has to commission the boat, which is basically undoing all the work the previous marina did to prep it for shipping.

In addition to all of this, many boats get damaged. Nothing major, but enough to add time and money to the endeavor. I’m not sure we would have bought any time by having it shipped — just more expenses and work.

So, we have more than a month to kill, and we’re next to an Amtrak line. We’ve decided to take a vacation and come home for a couple of weeks. We have the boat secured at a marina in Catskill New York. The sails and boom are off the boat. I’ve been lubing and working the turnbuckles on all the shrouds to get them ready to take the mast down when we get back.

We’re catching an overnight train to Union Station and scheduled to arrive at 9:50AM. If Metra still has the same schedule, we’ll catch the 10:30 train home. I checked my wallet and I still have the emergency 10 ride I carried in case I lost or forgot my monthly train pass.

We did not buy a return ticket. If the canal announces they’re opening early, I’ll be buying a ticket on the next train or renting a one-way car. If the canal doesn’t open this year, I’ll be driving back in my van to have the boat hauled out for winter and try again next year.

We’ll keep putting out updates.

We left Sandy Hook and headed up the Hudson River towards Half Moon Bay Marina in Croton-on-Hudson. This is the same place we stayed at last year when we visited our friend John.

We woke at first light so we could catch the flood tide. I was nervous to do the Hudson River again and hoping there would be less traffic early in the morning. Last year, there was so much traffic that my charting software kept crashing. I had to turn off the AIS because there were too many targets for it to track.

To our surprise, the Hudson River was empty. I think we only saw a single Staten Island Ferry, and a couple of tug boats. I’m not complaining, just very surprised.

We rode the current the entire way. We stopped off to fill our diesel tank and then pulled into our slip at the marina. Once we docked, one of the first places we went to was the local bagel shop, and that evening we got pizza. I love the bagels and pizza in New York. We were able to get good pizza in Palm Beach, but not the bagels.

While in Croton-on-Hudson , we were able to meet up with our friend John and have dinner again. New York had just started to allow indoor dining so we took advantage of that. It wasn’t too popular since we were the only ones eating in. Everyone else was still doing takeout.

During our week stay, we rode our bikes to the Croton Gorge state park, which was open and allowing visitors. The county park next to the marina was only allowing county residents in and had guards checking IDs.

We’ve been in flat lands since we left Quebec last year, so we didn’t think anything about the 3 mile bike ride to the state park. Well, we’re not in the flat lands anymore. I was huffing and puffing trying to make it up some of the hills, wishing I had even lower gears. A few times I’d give up and just walk the bike. We eventually made it without my heart exploding. We were both amazed at how beautiful the area was, and the size of the dam. We didn’t do much exploring last year because we were hurrying south before it got too cold. And yes, the bike ride home was much easier. I might need new brakes, but it was easier.

To go through the Erie Canal, we have to take our mast down. We were still trying to decide if we’re going to ship the mast on a truck, or carry it on the boat. If we shipped it, the radar had to be removed. I never saw how the boat yard installed it, and was concerned they used rivets instead of screws, which is common on masts. Sue didn’t feel comfortable raising me up the mast and offered to go herself and check it all out. Up she went and she was able to take lots of pictures of the radar and spreaders.

After many phone calls and going back and forth, we have decided to carry the mast on the boat.

But, more on the Canal issues and the decisions we made next time…

After leaving Norfolk, we decided to skip the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays and sail nonstop to Sandy Hook NJ. If we hugged the shoreline, it would be easy to duck in somewhere should the weather become rough.

The first day out we had nice winds and were able to sail. That evening, the winds died and never picked up again. We motor sailed almost the entire way to northern New Jersey.

On the plus side, it was the calmest I’ve seen the ocean. Occasionally, we’d feel the tired wake from a boat long gone. Sue was happy since this was the area where she broke her ribs last year.

One advantage to motoring is I’m able to time our arrival better since my speed is more consistent. I had a choice of pushing hard and making it by sun down the next day, or run in economy mode and pull into Sandy Hook in the morning two days away. I went the eco mode to make sure I had enough fuel to get us well up the Hudson. The last thing I wanted to do was try and get diesel in Manhattan.

The trip was uneventful, except just before dawn on the day we were arriving. Heavy fog had rolled in. All commercial traffic and larger boats use AIS, so we could keep track of each other. But, it was Father’s Day, dead calm seas, and most folks have been locked up for a long time. Every small fishing boat around was going out full throttle — no AIS and no radar.

They assumed everyone was heading East out to deep water to fish, thinking they only had to worry about catching up to a boat or being caught up to. Well, I wasn’t fishing, I was heading North on a perpendicular course. I could watch them approach on radar, I could hear their motor getting louder. I’d sound my fog horn even though I knew they couldn’t hear it over the roar of their own motor.

Because of the speed difference, it was difficult for me to get out of their way. Radar isn’t perfect and has some slop in it. I knew they were heading my way, but it wasn’t fine enough to tell me to slow down, speed up, turn right or left to avoid a collision.

We had a couple of close calls, but one was too close. The captain saw us at the last second, swerved hard and just missed us. It had me rattled for a while. I’m not sure why someone would be going full throttle, in heavy fog, without radar, but they were.

The fog finally lifted as we approached Sandy Hook. It was still early morning when we set the anchor and the we were both tired so we took a short nap.

We anchored at the same spot last year, just off the Coast Guard station. When we woke up from our nap, we were surrounded by fishing boats. The radio was also getting chatty with boats calling in for help. We heard everything from running out of gas to our motor fell off our boat. Finally, evening came and we could get a decent nights sleep. The next day, we were going to get up at sun rise to catch the flood tide and ride the current all the way to Croton-On-Hudson.

After leaving the town of Great Bridge we made our way north on the Elizabeth River. I was surprised by how little boat traffic there was compared to last fall when we made the trip south. I’m glad because this trip was more relaxing and I could enjoy the sightseeing along the way.

Last fall, on our way down, we stayed at Rebel Marine and fell in love. The owner, David, was one of the greatest boaters I’ve run across. He’s been a professional mariner his entire life. Commercial fishing in Alaska to tug boat captain on the east coast. And, when he’s not working, he’s out cruising in his boat. He’s also a great guy who you could talk to for hours, and we did. He’s also very knowledgeable and doesn’t mind sharing. He taught me a lot the week I was there last fall and also gave me some very good advice… and I was smart enough to listen to him.

The other thing we also enjoyed about Rebel were the other boaters. They were friendly and outgoing and we were welcomed like regulars the moment we pulled in. In fact, last fall we had to run to the store right after docking because it was pot luck night and we had to find something to bring.

The virus affected Rebel too. Not as many folks were on the docks and the parties were smaller, outdoors, and awkward, with no one knowing how to “social distance” at a social event. But, it was still great.

Initially, we were only going to stay 2 nights because we had a nice weather window coming up. We were sad we couldn’t stay longer but we didn’t think we’d have another good window to head north for awhile. Our friend Cley (from S/V Oz) and his wife Jean were going to be in town and wanted to get together for dinner, but they understood weather windows and we agreed to see each other another time.

The day we were supposed to leave I saw David on the dock. He said “you’re not planning on leaving, are you?” I told him we were, and he suggested I check the forecast again. Woo Hoo, the forecast had changed and we ended up having to stay another week while waiting for the next weather window.

The weather had turned so bad that a group who left Rebel the day earlier for a two week cruise of the Chesapeake, ended up turning around and coming back.

So, we were able to have a nice dinner with Cley and Jean at Captain Groovy’s after all. And, I got more great stories and advice from David. All in all, Norfolk was a great 10 days. I wish I was back there now.

After we left Belhaven we continued north on the Pungo River to the canal that connects the Pungo to the Alligator River. We continued north in the Alligator until we reached the Alligator Swing Bridge which is just south of the Albemarle Sound.

It was near the end of the day so we found a nice bay to anchor in for the night. The bugs were out again in full force and we had to fill all the cracks with towels or tape. We were also spraying bug spray in the cracks, hoping that would help.

The next morning we awoke to dead calm wind, which is good because the Albemarle is a large open area of water that’s known for getting rough quickly. When we crossed, it was so smooth it looked like a sheet of glass.

The Albemarle is also where you decide to take the Dismal Swamp route or the Virginia Cut. Since we’ve already been through the Dismal Swamp and the bugs were already unbearable, we decided to take the Virginia Cut.

One of the well known stops along this route is the Coinjock Marina in the town of Coinjock. Their restaurant is known for their Prime Rib and it was my birthday, so we decided to stop for the night, have a nice meal, top off our diesel tank, enjoy our air conditioning, and have a nice shower with unlimited hot water.

The next morning we continued down the Virginia Cut to a town called Great Bridge. Great Bridge has two free town docks that you’re allowed to use for up to 24 hours. We were hoping there would be room for us since free dock space fills up quickly and there is nowhere to anchor. As a backup, there were 2 marinas in the area where we could have gotten a slip, but who wants to pass up a free dock?

We got lucky and both town docks were empty. We had our pick of spots. I was suspect because I couldn’t believe the dock was empty. I didn’t want to leave the boat in case there was an issue. So, Sue walked to Kroger to pick up some groceries while I stayed on the boat waiting for someone to tell us we had to go. But, that never happened and a couple of hours later another sailboat showed up and parked at the dock too.

The town of Great Bridge has a swing bridge that we needed opened for us to get through the next morning. When you hail someone on the radio, you’re supposed to state their name 3 times and then your name. Try saying “Great Bridge Bridge” 3 times without messing up. I would chuckle every time I heard someone try. You couldn’t cut it short either because just past the Great Bridge Bridge is the Great Bridge Lock. I managed the tongue twister good enough that both the bridge and lock operators answered. I’m sure they’ve heard just about everything.

We did have some problems in the lock. I drive the boat while Sue manages the lines. Inside the lock, you’re supposed to tie off to cleats or bollards to keep your boat from drifting while the water levels drop. The bollards were on top of the lock and too far to reach. The cleats were inside the locks within easy reach, but had cockroaches crawling all over them. Sue played cowgirl and eventually was able to lasso the bollards, because the cleats weren’t going to happen.

Once we made it through the locks we were in the Elizabeth River just a few miles from Norfolk. More about that in the next post.

Sorry, I don’t know why, but we didn’t take any photos on this leg.

We spent an extra day at Cape Lookout due to weather. Initially, it looked like we were going to have to spend close to a week waiting for the winds to die down so we could make the 10 mile trek from Cape Lookout to the Beaufort inlet. This trip is out in the ocean and strong south winds we’re bringing in large waves.

There was a let up in the winds and at the last minute, we decided to make a run for it. It was still rough, but we only had to go 10 miles.

Since it was last minute, I forgot to check the currents in the inlet. Once we got there, it was pretty obvious from the waves, it was an ebb flow. We had strong wind vs. large current waves to battle and a strong current to fight. The only positive is we had the channel to ourselves. Everyone else had enough sense to wait for the tide to change before going through the inlet.

We eventually made it through the inlet and into the calm waters of the ICW. We were both feeling a little “squishy” from the ride in and had a mess to clean up below. No matter how well you stow stuff, big waves seems to clear the shelves.

We motored up the ICW and just north of Oriental NC, we pulled off the Neuse River into Bonner Bay to anchor for the night.

The boating “snow bird” migration from south to north has already happened, so we’ve been finding empty anchorages and empty marinas. Certainly different than our trip down the ICW last fall where everywhere was crowded.

Unlike our trip down, it’s warmer and the bugs are out in force. This area of North Carolina is swampy and swarming with midges and mosquitos at dusk and dawn. Our boat has screens over the hatches, but the bugs were still finding their way in. Sue resorted to stuffing rags in every crack, even using tape to try and seal the smaller cracks.

The next morning I was on bug cleanup duty. Once that was done, we got back on the ICW and made our way to River Forest Marina in Belhaven, arriving in early afternoon. This is the same place we stayed on the way down. They still have the golf carts and we took them out again to make a grocery run to the Food Lion.

We booked 2 nights at the marina so we could get laundry done and explore the town. We tried their 3 mile crab walk. The town painted crabs on the side walk that you’re supposed to follow. It leads you through town taking you to all the sites. It’s always nice to take a long walk after being on the boat for a few days, and Belhaven is a nice stop.

For those following us in real time on the map, I’ve fallen behind. I’ll get caught up as soon as I can.

After we left Beaufort we made the 10 mile trip across open ocean to the Cape Lookout Bight. It’s an anchorage inside the Cape Lookout National Seashore park.

We use ActiveCaptain, which is the Yelp for boaters, to find marinas and anchorages. Several reviews on ActiveCaptain described this as the best anchorage in the US. It’s nice here, but I can think of a couple of spots in northern Michigan that have it beat. It’s certainly the nicest I’ve seen on the east coast. But, it’s not the Bahamas.

Due to the virus, the National Park service had all the buildings closed except the lighthouse and the bathrooms. Not sure why it was ok to go into the cramped lighthouse and climb the narrow stairway, while the spacious light keepers house was off limits.

Landing our dingy on shore was tricky. The tide isn’t that large, but the slope of the shore was very gradual. If you pull your dingy on shore at high tide, you may have to drag it across sand for more than 100 yards. I’d leave it off shore, throw out the anchor, and Sue and I would walk to shore. At low tide, I’d pull it to shore and throw the anchor out. It will be floating when we get back.

The other big attraction here are the herds of wild horses living on the islands. As luck would have it, we found a herd grazing on Shackleford Bank.

Sue and I enjoyed our week in Beaufort. We stayed at Town Creek marina, just on the edge of town. The more popular marina is Beaufort Docks which is in the heart of downtown and the center of the show, but we prefer to go to the show instead of being the show. Besides, we got a cheaper rate and a much nicer marina.

Tropical Storm Bertha had just past so most of the week was rainy. We had nice periods during the days and were able to get out and explore, always keeping an eye on the radar for the next rain squall to come through town.

Downtown Beaufort is a historic district, so many of the larger homes were converted to bed and breakfasts. Lots of shops and restaurants too. As luck would have it, the best restaurant in town was City Kitchen, which is at our marina. Our favorite menu item was a blueberry cobbler desert, with key lime sauce and whipped cream

Shopping was a challenge since the grocery stores are on the edge of town. The Carolinas don’t seem big on bicycle paths, and most of the roads don’t have shoulders to ride on either. So I studied google maps and found a route to Piggy Wiggly and the Food Lion, snaking across town on residential and side streets.

Groceries here were very different from what we had gotten used to in Palm Beach Gardens. Early in the week, there was no romaine lettuce to be found. The green cabbages looked picked over and old. No red cabbages anywhere. But, they had plenty of hot Chow-Chow, so I’m happy. And, we picked up a bottle of pickled okra for my mom.

The seafood markets in the area sell what ever the fishing boats bring in. One day I stopped and they had fresh shrimp, 9-10 count at $5 a pound! What a deal, until I realized they were whole shrimp. I’ve only cooked with processed shrimp, but I gave it a try. Seasoned them up, and grilled them. Not bad, but in the future, I’m going to remove the head, shell, and de-vein them before cooking.

We got the boat topped off on supplies and moved to the Cape Lookout National Seashore. There is a big blow scheduled to hit so we’re going to spend a few days here exploring the park. Sue is determined to find the wild horses on the islands. We may try to rent a four wheeler so we can cover more ground.

We had a nice sail from Palm Beach, Florida to Beaufort, North Carolina. It was a 550 nautical mile trip that took 79 hours, with an average speed of 6.9 knots.

If you followed us on the map you may have noticed we didn’t sail a straight line, instead we made an S. The reason I did this was to stay in the Gulf Stream as long as possible. That’s also why you may have noticed we were going over 10 knots at times. Taking advantage of the Gulf Stream shaved an extra night at sea from our trip.

Being in Florida this time of year you can expect afternoon and evening thunderstorms. Both the first and second nights we encountered a line of heavy thunderstorms.

The first night was by far the worse. It was a slow mover with lots of lightning. We were watching it slowly catch up to us, hoping it would dissipate or that we might out run it. I was also using our radar to see if there were any holes we might sneak through. I checked the weather reports using the satellite phone and saw it had high winds associated with it so I brought the sails in, fired up the motor and turned it over to Sue. My shift was up and I needed to get some sleep.

When the storm did hit, there were high winds. Sue told me the winds were sustained over 30 knots. The biggest problem was they opposed the Gulf Stream and when you have wind vs current, you get very bad waves. We were bouncing around so much so that I kept getting woken up by stuff flying off our shelves and hitting me. Boy, I was glad it wasn’t my shift.

The second nights storm did hit on my watch. Again I used the sat phone to get the latest info on the thunderstorms. The winds were not reported as high as the previous night so I put a reef in the sail but left it up. When the storm hit, the winds were strong enough to force me to run down wind for a while, but I was able to keep the sails up.

This storm seemed to have even more lightening than the previous nights. Lightening is very unpredictable and is one of my biggest concerns at sea. I read up on lightening at sea and also went to several lightening seminars before we left. So, I did all I could do to prepare. I started our motor and I put a backup set of electronics in the oven.

Our diesel motor, minus the starter, is completely mechanical. If we take a lightening strike and all electrical is fried, our motor will keep running. I wouldn’t be able to start it, but it will continue to run.

The reason I put the backup electronics in the oven is because the oven will act as a Faraday cage protecting them from the lightening… well, that’s the theory at least. I hope I never have to find out.

It was a new moon, so the lightening was especially bright. Enough so, that I was losing my night vision. I tried to keep one eye closed to preserve my night vision, but I wasn’t able to do it. I need to get a pirate eye patch. Now I see why they wore them.

The third night we were well north of Florida and had no storms but, I could see lightening in the distance to our south.

We finally pulled into Beaufort on a Sunday night around 6PM. We tried to call a couple of marinas but they were closed. I had forgotten that it’s Memorial Day weekend so the town anchorage was full. I ended up going down Taylor creek further until I found a deep nook I could anchor in. Closer to shore than I’ve ever anchored before, but the current kept us safe.

The next day Sue called our preferred marina and got us a slip for the week. It’s very nice where we are and we’ve got all kinds of activities planned.

For the last month, Sue and I have been enjoying our time in the Palm Beach area, but our month is up and it’s time to start heading north. The first tropical storm of the season has already passed us, so we need to get north before more and bigger storms come.

Our plan is to head out into the ocean and sail to Beaufort, North Carolina. That’s a 500 nautical mile trip and should take about 4 days. Once there, we’ll anchor and hang out for a few days and decide what we’re going to do next.

Our plans to get back to Chicago are up in the air. The only practical route home is through the Erie Canal, which runs from the Hudson River just north of Albany to Buffalo, on Lake Erie. The canal was scheduled to open May 15. Unfortunately, the canal was deemed non essential during New York’s shutdown, so the maintenance typically done in March and April never happened.

At one point, there was talk of not opening the canal this year, but cooler heads prevailed. The latest from the Canal is they’re going to open the eastern portion first, targeting 4th of July. The western portion should be opened sometime in August. So, we’re going to have some time to kill before we can get back to the Great Lakes.

While we’ve been in Palm Beach, like most of the country, restaurants, parks, and beaches were closed. Florida started opening up a couple of weeks ago. First, we could go to restaurants with outdoor seating. Then, they allowed indoor seating. And finally, just as we’re ready to leave, they open the parks and beaches. Sue and I did sneak out and hit the beach the first day they opened. I’m sure we’ll sneak off again before heading out.

I was able to get several boat projects done while we were here. West Marine is within walking distance and Boat Owners Warehouse is a short bike ride away.

While in the Bahamas I learned there was a recall on my Honda generator. Apparently, they can burst into flames when used in a salt water environment. After learning that, I started putting the generator on the edge of the deck instead of the middle. If it caught on fire, I could always kick it overboard. And yes, that was one of the first projects I took care of when we got here.

We also rented a car and drove to the Ft Myers area to visit my Aunt and Uncle. It was nice to see family again and get off the boat and spend the night in a normal house. That’s where we went to our first restaurant in God knows how long.

We had a wonderful sail from Rock Sound to Palm Beach Florida. It was 250 nautical miles and we did it in less than 48 hours. Conditions were great and we were able to sail 75% of it. There was a period of no wind between the Berry Islands and Bimini where we motored. Other than that, we sailed. As we approached Florida, I had to reduce sail to slow us down to avoid arriving in the dark.

The leg from the Northern Berry Islands to the Great Isaac Lighthouse is about 60 miles. We stayed in deep water running about 2 miles off the shallow bank. Along that stretch we must have seen at least 30 cruise ships anchored on the bank. It was a giant cruise ship parking lot organized by company. So, if you wondered where the cruise ships went, lots are anchored in the western Bahamas.

At sunup, we passed through the Palm Beach inlet and anchored in Lake Worth. I used the Customs and Border Controls ROAM app on our phones to clear customs. We ate some breakfast and took a long nap. Once we woke, we headed to a marina.

We try to stay at marinas regularly so we can run the air conditioner to dry out the inside of the boat. But the lockdowns prevented us from traveling and the humidity and high temperatures have left everything feeling wet. Before we left Rock Sound, Sue was searching for a marina for us to stay at. It was a challenge because many marinas are closed or will not take new transients. And, we also wanted a marina that was close to resources like groceries, fuel, and marine supplies.

Sue’s perseverance paid off and she found us the perfect spot in Palm Beach Gardens. We decided to book a slip for a month since it’s still too early (i.e too cold) to start heading home. You also get a better rate the longer you book.

The marina complex has several impressive restaurants that are take out only. There’s also a high end Italian Market here. They have groceries, prepared foods, and most importantly, they have deserts.

Having been in The Bahamas for more than four months, I had forgotten how nice a grocery store could be. We were both in awe walking up and down the aisles wanting to buy everything.

Come May 20th, we’ll start our trek home. If all goes well, we’ll be home in July.

We wanted to stay in The Bahamas until mid May, hoping conditions in the US would improve by then. On April 14th, The Bahamian government published its Protocols for Foreign Boats Moored in Bahamian Waters. Further restrictions have been placed on us and at this time, we believe we’re better off in the US. Plus, the protocols state: “FOREIGN BOATS ARE ENCOURAGED BY THE GOVERNMENT TO DEPART THE BAHAMAS”. All caps and bold. The other statement in the protocols that is bold and in caps is there are no medical facilities on shore to treat foreign boaters. Arrangements will have to be made for treatment outside of the Bahamas.

In addition to not being able to go to shore, the Protocols required us to register with the government, which I did the next morning. We are not allowed to move the boat except to leave the country. And, it must be direct and nonstop. There is a procedure to request a variance. We prefer to anchor at night instead of going nonstop, especially when we’re crossing shallow banks with uncharted coral heads. So, I also requested approval to anchor along our route.

It’s been over 24 hours now and I still haven’t gotten an acknowledgement for either the reporting or the variance request. I don’t know how long it will take for either, but we’re not going to wait to find out.

We have a great weather window this weekend and have decided to take advantage of it. Saturday morning we’re going to way anchor and sail / motor nonstop to either Palm Beach or Fort Pierce Florida. If all goes well, we should arrive Monday morning.

The reason for the two targets is I can’t guarantee speed on a sail boat. If conditions are good we should be able to make it to Fort Pierce. If we’re slowed or the approaching front is early, we’ll drop into Palm Beach.

Friday will be our last day in The Bahamas, and it’s in our favorite town of Rock Sound. I only wish I could go to shore and walk around one last time. Well, there’s always next ????

Last Thursday started a 5 day complete shutdown in the Bahamas. Only hospitals, police, and utilities are allowed to operate. We’re not allowed ashore unless there is a medical emergency. We’re also not allowed to move the boat unless it’s to go home.

The other day, Sue was out paddle boarding and went near a reef about a quarter of a mile from the boat. Unbeknownst to her, she picked up a buddy on the way back. While I was helping her get back aboard, I noticed a 4 foot long barracuda following her. No, I didn’t point it out to her until she was aboard. Sorry, no pictures, just a little panic.

Today is the start of a perfect 4 day weather window to get back to the US. We had contemplated taking advantage of it but wanted to make sure we had a plan for moving forward. Sue started calling some of our favorite marinas that we’d stayed at on the way down. None in Florida were taking transient boaters at this time. Not surprising but we wanted to give it a shot anyway.

So, here we sit, like most of you, except it’s 80 and sunny. I go swimming and paddle boarding to try and kill time. But, I do miss walking, and as soon as I can get back on land, I’m going for a nice long walk … to a liquor store (haven’t had any booze for a while since the Bahamian government has deemed liquor as non-essential).