Month: March 2020

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.

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.  

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….

Cocoa – Melbourne
Friday 3/13

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.  

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.

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.

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.

We ended the day in Titusville.

Tuesday, 10 March 2020

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.  

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 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.