Tough decisions have to be made

Vero Beach, Continues
Sunday 3/15

Over the past few days we have been watching with interest what has been happening due to the Coronavirus pandemic.  With borders closing, and travel restrictions being put in place around the world, what will happen here?  What will happen in the Bahamas?  Will they stop letting foreign flagged vessels in?  And what will happen with entry/exit between the two countries in the future?  

There have been no incidents of Coronavirus reported in the Bahamas to date.  That’s good news.  Being on a sailboat is in someways self isolation.  But… with the fluidity of the situation and quickly changing travel policies, we are beginning to think that the Bahamas and international travel may not be the best plan at this time.  Not out of fear of the virus, but rather out of concern of re-entry and the limitations imposed at that time as well as availability of services along the way.  

So, we will sit here in Vero Beach and decide if we go further south in Florida (with the potential prospect of crossing over later next month), or go back north to home, or go back north and further north and enjoy St. Augustine, or stay put. 

At the start we always said, yes, we may be disappointed if we don’t get to the Bahamas this trip, but we won’t be mad.  We are happy to be back on the water.  

As we ponder, we walked to the beach under the canopy of large Live Oak trees and enjoyed a nice meal looking over the blue water of Vero Beach.  The water really is bluer south of Sebastian Inlet.

Not everyday can be peace and tranquility

Melbourne – Vero Beach
Saturday 3/14

Today is six hours on the water and totally unlike the past two heavenly days. 

Today we were joined by what seemed like every powerboat in the county, as they rushed past in both directions heading to and from the Sebastian Inlet.  Note to self:  don’t do this section of the ICW on a weekend day again.  








It just wasn’t as relaxing as the previous days.  Their wakes making for rougher water. And the noise! It sounded like the Daytona 500 – I had been spoiled by the past two days. Today just felt like we were going from point A to point B, sort of like a necessary evil to get to where we wanted to go.  

Water churned up by wakes of passing boats

Vero Beach is often called Velcro Beach by cruisers because so many people arrive here and never go further.  Previously we have only stayed here one day on each visit, so we decided to spend a week here and learn what the attraction was all about.  

We are only 3 hours from Fort Pierce, which was our first “final destination” before making a decision to cross to the Bahamas or go elsewhere.  But, now we will use Vero for that purpose.  

And we do have to make some decisions….

New place along the way

Cocoa – Melbourne
Friday 3/13

Good Morning Cocoa

As our dining cruise continues down the ICW, we chose to have another short day on the water.  And again, it was a perfectly delightful, quiet experience with dolphins all around and water that was as still as a lake.  

We usually stay at a particular marina here that has a Chart House restaurant on-site where we enjoy their happy hour food offerings.  But, alas, that marina is currently under construction with no amenities available, and they suggested another one a few miles north of them. 

Our short day, just got shorter.

We discovered a gem of a marina up a small river that is very protected.  Multiple dolphins call it home as we watched momma and baby swim along and play. 

The most stressful part of this marina is entering the slip as a fleet of canoers and kayakers are coming down the adjacent channel.  There is a paddle club up the channel and competitive rowers and paddlers use this area for training.  We weren’t sure if we were watching kayakers or canoeist as the boats looked very similar.  So after some Google research we discovered that we were watching competitive canoeing with a long skinny canoe and the canoeist kneels on one knee and has one foot out in front of them for support.   When you aren’t trying to dodge them while docking, it was great watching them train, making it look easy.

This marina is on the east or beach side of the ICW, so we are able to walk to the beach for a nice dinner. 

We will be putting this marina on the list to return to someday.  

Our neighbor


Short Day – Big Lunch

Titusville – Cocoa 
Thursday – 3/12/2020

One of the things we both have observed is that it feels good to not have a fixed plan or destination.  We can go as slow or as fast as we want to wherever, or to nowhere…and it is good.  We are in no hurry to get where we want to be.

Starting with a beautiful sunrise, the morning on the water from Titusville to Cocoa Village was decidedly relaxing.  Dolphins abounded, the weather was perfect and there were very few boats sharing the water with us.  Delightful.  

Today we opted for a very short day for no reason other than dining at our favourite Pub Americana.  When we wintered in Cocoa Village in 2015/16 we would go to this restaurant weekly, if not more often.  They have great burgers with a choice of meat (or non meat) between the buns.  We opt for the salmon filet, topped with goat cheese, caramelised onions, and honey/lemon aioli.  This visit did not disappoint and lived up to our memories.  Yummy! 

We are seriously considering just coming back to Cocoa Village for a few weeks, it is a great stop to relax, unwind and eat well.

New friends – Old waters…

Wednesday, 11 March 2020

Today is a stretch that is one of Christina’s favorites, and Bob’s least favorites.

Christina enjoys this stretch through Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River because this is the day we are almost always certain to see manatees and dolphins. Also, because it is in manatee zones, all boats have to go slow, so we don’t have to deal with rude wakes.

Bob doesn’t enjoy this stretch because there are large expanses of water all about, and he has to stay in a skinny channel keeping an eye out for all the markers to be sure we don’t drift in to shallow water.

Today we were joined by a couple of butterflies who flew alongside us for an hour or so. They would take a break every now and then on the foredeck, and then come back and fly alongside again.

Butterflies join us for a while

Christina also got her wish and saw a couple manatees in Haulover Canal, and dolphins throughout the day who did not cooperate and stop for a photo.

That blob in the water is a large manatee who swam by

We ended the day in Titusville.

Glad we always have a Plan B

Tuesday, 10 March 2020

On the move…

Plan A was to leave Daytona Beach, go offshore at Ponce Inlet for an overnight run to Ft.  Pierce. 

Plan B was to just “go” and stay on the inside on the ICW which means a few more days before hitting Ft.  Pierce.  

Due to choppy conditions offshore caused by the recent front that passed through we opted for Plan B rather than Plan C which was waiting in Daytona for calmer water and continued good weather.  

Plan B also gives us the opportunity to consider this a shakedown trip to be sure all the systems are working well before we venture far off shore.

So, now we are calling this first part of the journey – the “Dining Cruise” as we plan our favorite restaurant stops along the way. 

First stop – New Smyrna Beach.  Yes this is literally just down the road about 15 miles – and yes we are stopping there first – we still like low stress travel and it makes sense when planning the next couple of days distances.  And the restaurant has an awesome vegetable pasta dish Christina enjoys and $5 margaritas.

The best part – regardless of being on the outside or inside WE ARE ON THE WATER and MOVING!!! Yay! 

It feels great to be back onboard Dreamtime.  

We’re Back Onboard!!!

The boat is loaded up, everything is stowed. There is alot more space when you provision/outfit for a 3 month cruise versus living aboard full time – so much space!! I can fill it with something I am sure. Bob says NO MORE PAPER TOWELS!

We’re ready to go.

It feels great to be back on Dreamtime.

Time to dust off this blog….

Time to dust off this website and start updating again because s/v Dreamtime is going cruising!!!!

Bahamas bound.

It is hard to believe that we last updated this page in 2017 after Hurricane Irma.  Our apologies for not keeping you updated on our lives.

Here is a quick synopsis:

We left Marco Island returned to Key West in late 2017 to enjoy a few winter months there.  Whilst there, we learned of Jimmy Buffett’s new active 55+ community in Daytona Beach, Latitude Margaritaville.  Being Buffett fans we thought it might be a fun place to consider for land based living ….. someday.

We drove up from Key West a couple days after the models opened in February 2018 – just to have a look.  We liked the look and feel of the place, and decided to put down a deposit.  House scheduled to be finished in April 2019.  What?!?!?!?!  I guess “someday” is coming sooner than expected.

We slowly moved Dremtime up the keys, enjoying extended time in Marathon, Ft. Lauderdale and other locales until we arrived in Daytona Beach in mid 2018.  Where the boat has been safely tied ever since.

We watched our house be built from foundation, to framing to completion in April 2019.  Since then, we stayed busy setting it up and enjoying the transition.  Moving to land means having to buy EVERYTHING for the house that we had sold when we moved aboard.  This was an undertaking.

When we first moved in we both commented on how weird it is to have to walk so much to get from one end of the house to the other.  We were used to only having to take a couple steps to get to the other side of the boat.  This land based living is a workout!

With the house mostly set up, (who needs dining room chairs?) we decided it’s time to go cruising again for a few months.

Every free minute these past two months we (mostly Bob) have been consumed getting Dreamtime ready to go again.  Cleaning, cleaning, cleaning, engine work, polishing and did I mention cleaning?

With our planned departure less than a week away, we are starting to put things back on the boat, and she is getting ready to move.  The waterline is dropping again.

 

Post Hurricane Irma

Image may contain: sky, outdoor and water

We made our way through devastated, storm ravaged, Naples on our way to Marco Island Marina today, not knowing what we would find there.

As we drove into the marina, most trees were downed and light poles bent or fallen.  But amazingly, we found our home, s/v Dreamtime, floating peacefully in her slip.

Per our neighbors, as the water was sucked out of the Gulf by Hurricane Irma, all the boats in the marina ended up sitting on the bottom in the mud in the midst of hte storm.  probably the safest thing that could have happened.

When the water came rushing back in with whatever storm surge occurred, the floating docks rose to just below the tops of the pilings.  We can’t imagine what may have happened if the water level hadn’t dropped, or thetide and surge were greater.  But as it is, there didn’t appear to be any major damage to any boats in the marina.

It was evident that the boat had done some major rocking and rolling when we saw a few unsecured things down below had fallen over.  But, the only real damage to Dreamtime was a bent television antenna up the mast, and slightly bent davits.

We started the engine, ensured all our instruments, wind indicator, depth sounder and radar all appeared to be intact.

We are very grateful and consider ourselves very very lucky indeed.

Surviving Hurricane Irma

12 September 2017

We left the boat in Marco Island, and flew to Colorado for a family/friend visit for a couple of weeks.  We watched the weather news with great interest and growing anxiety as Hurricane Harvey smashed into Texas days after we had passed through Houston and Hurricane Irma grew bigger and bigger and then even more massive as she lumbered across the Atlantic towards Florida.

Originally it was predicted the storm would hit the East Coast of Florida and continue up the coast.  But with every passing day this became more uncertain, and by the end the West Coast, where Marco island and Dreamtime are, was the direct target.

These were some of the news headlines we didn’t want to be reading:

  • Largest hurricane in history in the Atlantic
  •  First time there are 3 major hurricanes in the Atlantic
  • Hurricane has grown into a massive storm, larger across than the whole state of Florida
  • Hurricane keeps gaining speed and changing tracks.  Nobody knows where it will make landfall.
  • The entire state of Florida is in the cone of uncertainty
  • Hurricane decimates Caribbean Islands, and expected to gain strength and speed as it makes its way to the US mainland.
  • ….and on they went.

For insurance purposes, the marina has to close, and everyone must be off their boat 72 hours prior to a named storm making landfall.  We hadn’t totally prepared the boat for a hurricane prior to leaving and we wanted to get back to take the canvas and sails down before the marina closed.  (Lesson learned – take the extra few hours and properly prepare the boat whenever leaving it for more than a few days when in a hurricane zone regardless if a hurricane is forecast.)

With the storm growing in speed and size and headed straight toward Marco Island we knew everything had to go our way in our travel to be able to make it back in time to prepare the boat and give it a fighting chance to come through unscathed.

Knowing we would have to find a place to stay to sit out the storm, while we were still in Colorado, we started calling around to a number of hotels far enough inland to not be in serious danger, or so we thought.  Each internet enquiry and phone call resulted in “we are not taking any reservations”.  Finally after more than half a dozen enquires we found a hotel that would take our reservation for the weekend of the storm.  The manager told us she had been at this hotel for over 30 years and they have never needed to evacuate.  So, we felt pretty comfortable with that.

Our original plan was to return Florida on Wednesday afternoon, spend the night in Tampa and then have a leisurely drive from Tampa to Marco Island on Thursday to return to the boat.  But with the hurricane quickly approaching we had to change our plans.

We kept in touch with the dock master and on Monday he told us he thought the marina wouldn’t close until Saturday, so our plan would still work.  But within 24 hours the storm’s track and speed had changed, and the marina would be closing on Thursday!  Uh oh!  We won’t get back to Florida until Wednesday late afternoon, and another 3.5 hours of driving before we can get to the boat.  So if the storm speeds up any more, and the closing time gets pushed up any more, there is no reason to even return to Florida  until after the storm, as we won’t be able to get back to the boat and prepare her.  Before we checked in for our flight in Denver, we made one last phone call to the dock master and he said Thursday noon was still the expected close time, so we decided to go for it, knowing everything has to go smoothly and we can’t miss one connection.

We were scheduled to again fly through Houston, and thankfully the airport had reopened after Hurricane Harvey just days prior with normal operations having been resumed.

We had to change planes in Houston, and had about a half hour to make that connection.  When we had flown through on our way from Tampa to Denver, we were lucky to have the gate be the same for both flights.  We hoped this would be the case on this trip. But no.  When we deplaned we learned that our next flight was literally the farthest gate away possible and required a train ride as well.  We literally had to run and arrived at the gate just as they were finishing the boarding process….whew!  We were out of breath but relieved.

Upon arriving in Tampa, the next challenge was going to be finding fuel for the truck.  We probably had enough in the tank to get us back to Marco Island, but then the tank would be empty.  We already had heard there were lines and shortages.  We drove up to the first fuel station we came upon and filled the tank.  As Bob was finishing up, a worker came up and put a sign on the pump saying “the station’s tank was now empty”.  We literally got the last gasoline they had.  (Lesson learned – whenever we are going to leave a vehicle in a hurricane zone, always top up the tank and have it full.)

We made the drive to our hotel and checked in, grateful we made it back in time. The hotel has (or should I say “had”) a great tiki bar where we enjoyed dinner before retiring for the evening.

We woke early Thursday morning, 3 days before Hurricane Irma was forecast to come ashore.  We made the drive to the marina 15 miles away, and spent a few hours getting the boat ready.  This entailed taking down the two foresails, wrapping the main, removing all the canvas, removing everything that is removable from the deck and cockpit, securing items down below to minimize damage and breakage during what we expected to be a lot of rocking and rolling.

We also packed up some food items to take with us to get us through the expected power outages as well as the “essentials” like boat paperwork, passports, etc. just in case the boat was lost.

By noon, we had done all we could do.  We hoped for the best, took a final look back as we walked up the dock, not knowing what we would return to in a few days time.

We returned to the hotel and the tiki bar, as most restaurants in the area were already closed and boarded up.

Our eyes were glued to the weather reports on the television and internet tracking the path of the storm.  The storm grew more and more massive and all we could really do was sit and wait for it to hit.  There were mandatory evacuations all around, and we made our plans for where we would go if an evacuation was called for our area.

We thought about joining the masses on the freeway heading north, but since no one could predict with any certainty where the storm was going to make landfall, there was no where guaranteed to be safe unless you actually left the state.  Fuel stations were running out of fuel throughout the state, and we didn’t get want to get caught on the road out of fuel, and no where to go for safety.  And so we sat.

The storm initially was predicted to hit the east coast of Florida (Miami, Ft. Lauderdale) and go up that coast.  But then overnight that track shifted, and it was heading further south, now expected to hit the Keys and come up the west coast of Florida.  Marco Island was in the bull’s eye.

On Saturday we watched the hotel begin to make their storm preparations, boarding up some windows, taking in the outdoor furniture and reducing risk of flying projectiles around the property.

We continued to watch the storm make its way toward us.  They were predicting a huge storm surge of over 12 feet.  We were on the 3rd floor, of a 4 floor building, and felt safe.  If the roof were to blow off, the 4th floor would be more affected.  If the storm surge was any greater than predicted we were far enough off the ground we should be fine.

Our room faced south and we moved the essentials into the bathroom and prepared to spend the night in there if the winds were to come from the south and break the sliding glass door.

We were lucky again because when the storm passed by the winds were coming from the northeast so we were able to safely sit and watch the wind, rain and falling trees from our window.

When the eye passed by, we discovered the Tiki Bar was sadly gone.

Amazingly we did not lose power at any point, but the other half of the hotel did and with that power outage we lost the cable television, so we were no longer able to watch the latest updates.  We never lost internet or mobile/cell phone coverage so we were able to stay connected with family and friends.  We were in the minority on this front, as when morning came, we saw that nobody seemed to have power anywhere else.  The traffic lights were out and businesses were closed with no power.