2020: Coronavirus news updates and boating in the Keys

18 March 2020

No boat travel.

As the reality of Coronavirus set in at the marina, we spent the majority of the day on the boat. I did take several trips to the laundry room to get caught up in preparation for who knows what the future may bring. Meanwhile, I did some reading, did general boat / house chores, and shopped online for some essentials. Clark and I worked on the website for his Medicare-related Prescription Plan for over two hours trying to figure out how to order him a new prescription. Some of the issue was a cumbersome website. Most of the problem was on our end as my computer seemed to have a mind of its own when populating login data.

After fighting with the website and completing the laundry, we went to docktails to meet with others at the marina. Of course, the main topic of conversation, perhaps only topic, turned out to be Covid-19!  We violated the no more than 10 people rule – we had around 12, but we tried hard to comply with the 6-foot rule!

19 March 2020 – First Day of Spring!

No boat travel.

After “working” all day yesterday, I decided that I would spend today doing acrylic painting. I texted Lisa and asked if she wanted to join me. I told her I had a big table, so we could be 6-foot rule compliant as we painted together. She came over at 1:30 as planned and the first thing she said was, “I have no artistic ability whatsoever!” 

I showed her some pictures to choose from and we settled on a sunset picture Clark took at Marathon Marina in February.

I gave her step-by-step instructions, and we finished our art project together around 3:45 or so.

Sky is done - time to move on to water portion.

My version.

And Lisa said she is not artistic! Hah!!!

 I still felt like dabbling with my paints after Lisa left, so I continued to poke at my version of the picture for another hour or so.

Added sun, sailboat, and birds

20 March 2020

No boat travel.

We stayed on board today and read for most of the day. Every day we get the USA Today newspaper, I do the puzzles. I did not get to them yesterday, so I had two days’ worth this morning. That took quite a bit of time as each day of the week, the difficulty level goes up by one notch making Thursday and Friday puzzles the hardest of the week.

Mid-afternoon I decided to go for a walk around the marina. I had to do something besides sit around all day. Initially, I did not get very far as I ran into Yasmine and Aaron (Faro Blanco staff) who convinced me that we needed to rethink our planned end-of-reservation date.  I hurried back to the boat and miraculously got Clark to agree to extend our date. I see it as an insurance plan in these uncharted waters – the last thing I want is to be told we have to leave here and have no where to go.

After we talked to the office to move out our end-of-reservation date, we decided to walk the docks together. The walk took quite a while as everyone we saw wanted to talk (from 6 feet away). Today’s discussion once again revolved around Covid-19 with talk about restaurants going to takeout only and all hotels closing. The road into the Keys will be closed to tourists, i.e. only those who have a sticker showing they are a Keys resident can come into the Keys.

With all the uncertainty and depressing times we are now experiencing, it is nice to see a sunset to bring some amount of joy to the world.

Here is another taken by a fellow boater at Faro Blanco.

21 March 2020

Depart: Faro Blanco Resort 11:50

Arrive: New Found Harbor Anchorage 2:50

Distance: ~ 20 nm

Yesterday, Sandy and Bill (our boat neighbors at Faro Blanco) left the dock to go anchor for a few days to get away from people and enjoy nature without worry of contacting Covid-19. Before they left I asked Sandy if they would want a neighbor in the anchorage, and she said she would give directions once they found a spot. Later in the day, we got word they were anchored at New Found Harbor.  We decided an escape from the “real world” sounded like a great idea.

This morning when we got up, we had a few chores to do before leaving the dock. Clark was determined that we would bike to the farmer’s market to get fresh vegetables. I had my doubts that they would even be there. Sandy had said that Winn Dixie was well stocked on vegetables, so I figured that even if we could not get anything at the farmer’s market, we could still buy some veggies.

Low and behold … the farmer’s market was there and open for business.  I really could not believe it. We arrived around 9:30 which is later than when Sandy normally takes me. Some people were there but not the normal hustle and bustle I’m used to. Still, we got fresh corn on the cob, green beans, tomatoes, and more. Poor Clark’s backpack weighed a ton!

From there we went to Winn Dixie and I bought yet more food items. We had the wind against us going to the store. Thank goodness as that meant that the wind pushed us back to be boat. With the added weight on the bikes it would have been a real chore going against the wind. As it was, we practically sailed back.

I told Clark that I wanted to do some baking before we left. That put our target departure time at 1 o’clock. While he waited for me to bake his applesauce cake that he likes so much, he did miscellaneous chores around the boat like fill the water tank and get gas for the dinghy. We left the dock just before one as hoped and headed out to go find Sandy and Bill.

Clark thought it would be choppy on the ocean, so he decided to go on the “inside” as far as Bahia Honda State Park and then pass under the bridge to go out to the ocean side. We are fortunate that our mast lowers, so we have that option.

With the dreaded Coronavirus, Bahia Honda State Park was closed to the public. How bizarre it was to pass by there on a Saturday in March (spring break season) and see not a sole on the beach or walking the bridge to get the view.

Museum and beach at Bahia Honda - deserted

No people on the bridge admiring the view

No people walking the beaches

 Compared to when we visited the park a week ago with Mike and Darlene ...

We saw one sailboat at anchor near the park, and one dinghy going out to explore – perhaps the occupants of that anchored sailboat!?

Note the different water colors. Beautiful!

 When Clark lowers the antennas to go under bridges, he walks along a narrow ledge on the outside of the boat holding on with one hand as he lowers the antennas with the other. My heart is always in my mouth as I hold my breath watching him.  As Clark worked on the antennas, a dolphin came alongside the boat to travel with us for a short distance.  He did not stay for a photo however. Besides Clark and I both had our attention on other things at that precise moment.

On the far side of the bridge, I told Clark to get back out there and put things back in order fast before the waves picked up. He did, and he barely got himself back inside the boat rails when we got hit on the port side by a wave that pushed the boat sideways. What timing! While he was out there, I was working my rescue strategy in case I had to collect him from the water!

After that initial wave, the waves picked up and became larger in size. They were a bit bothersome until our route allowed us to turn the boat and have them following us instead of hitting us on the side.  As we traveled, we noted the colors of the water. We saw a definite line of baby blue versus green as ocean water met that of the bay.

Very definite line in the water! Gorgeous!

 We arrived at the entrance to New Found Harbor just after 3 o’clock. The first thing we saw was a bunch of people from a collection of small day boats – clearly Trump supporters from the numerous flags on display – not practicing the 6-foot rule!

Slightly beyond there, we came to the Little Palm Island Resort. This place was decimated by Hurricane Irma and has been rebuilding.  Clark looked up some details and reviews on the place. We learned that a dock here with a sunset view costs $1200 a day; a harbor view costs $600 a day; and lunch will set you back about $90. Sadly, the reviews of the docks did not support anything like those numbers. Who pays that much money to dock??

As we worked our way through the area to the anchorage where Sandy and Bill were located, we passed another small-boat convention.

“What pandemic?!”

Once again, we were struck by the water color as we approached an area where the water appeared very sandy in color, and no, it was not a beach!

Water appeared almost white!

We also saw a floating bar that was quite busy.

Floating bar ...  “Time Out”
(on left)

 Clark chose a more open spot than I would have expected. His reasoning … he said he wanted a breeze. Made sense to me. Shortly after we dropped anchor Sandy and Bill came over via dinghy to say hello. While at the farmer’s market this morning, I bought her some vegetables, so they came to pick them up and get the latest marina news.

After getting settled in, we relaxed on the boat. I read some more of my maritime war novel. I cooked up the chicken that I bought this morning at Winn Dixie! We enjoyed a nice dinner and had a lovely sunset at the anchorage.

After the sun set, Clark noticed that we could see Fat Albert – the “tethered aerostat radar system” blimp located at Cudjoe Key.

TARS blimp - "Fat Albert" over Cudjoe Key

It is yet TBD as to how long we will stay here at anchor. Perhaps a night or two. Perhaps more? Depending on what we find of interest here. As I told Lisa earlier today, if we have to be quarantined on a boat, we might as well make the most of it!