When we cut the dock lines in LaBelle, FL our expectations never included a year of obstacles that occurred. We had started the loop earlier than we had initially planned. The Illinois waterway was scheduled to be closed due to lock repairs from July 1, 2020 to November 1, 2020. We knew that traveling the river in a sailboat during the spring would be a challenge due to river levels after spring runoff and rain. And who wants to dress up in winter gear to make the trip in November? The marinas also tend to close during the first two weeks of November. So......lets start in 2019 with two ideas.
While waiting for a better time to complete the loop our thoughts turned to the Down East Circle Loop. It would be cool, both weather wise and the experience of sailing to Saint Pierre and Miquelon ,which is a French archipelago south of Newfoundland. How cool is that to sail to France and it is only 170 nm offshore of Nova Scotia. The other thought was to spend the summer in the Chesapeake Bay. Kind of a homecoming for Amy since she grew up in Baltimore.
Things were going very well, we took a couple of days to travel to Fort Myers Beach where we had planned on adding a new windless (to retrieve our anchor for you non boaters). While there we enjoyed the nightlife, beaches and meeting new friends. Roxy's first taste of a beach and she didn't care for it very much. Must be the city dog in her. Phoebe was a indoor dog all the way so no beach for her, she didn't even like grass. After about 10-14 days we were off to Marco Island.
Our first day on the Gulf of Mexico was uneventful, very little wind and we only had about a 35 nm run,. We anchored for a couple of nights, ran the dogs into shore via dinghy and just enjoyed the time on the "hook" . From there we made about a 150 nm run to Key West, FL picking up a slip at Boca Chica Naval Air Station. Again the gulf crossing was VERY uneventful, as we had no wind, okay maybe 3 knots for about an hour. A few days after arriving, Taryn and Dave came to visit. They spent 4 days with us and we had a great time. It was sad to see them go but we knew we had much to do and many places to go.
Amy's brother Bill came in a few days later, he wanted to join us on our sail to the Dry Tortugas. The Dry Tortugas is the home of Fort Jefferson National Park. It is the least visited National Park due to its location and the only way to get there is by boat or seaplane. We left Boca Chica for the Dry Tortugas on March 12th and anchored overnight at Marquesas Keys, FL . We stayed for a few days and reversed the trip back. We had a great sail there but it was a bit rough coming back. With Key West in sight we started to get clues that something wasn't right. The ferry to Fort Jefferson passed us, at a time that they should have already been at Fort Jefferson with tourists. We noticed it was empty. Next, a USCG Cutter was blocking the cruise port in Key West. As we came back into cell range we were reading all about the closings due to Covid. We were very lucky that we made it back when we did as the marina closed to incoming boats the next day.
This was the end of "normal" and a trip into the real unknown. Bill stayed with us for some time, wanting to make sure we were set since we didn't have a car. We have found over the years that most people in marina's are always happy to help and even more so when you are cruising. Maybe it's because you're part of a small group and everyone is in the same boat (No pun intended). We ended up staying at Boca Chica marina until mid May.
The big decision at this time...to stay or go. Monroe Co had required all tourists to leave the county. Lucky for us they don't control the military. We knew we could stay at the navy marina but once we left there was no coming back. We were getting antsy. We had not planned on staying for so long. Other cruisers were starting to venture out so we decided to once again cut the lines and head out. The weather looked promising with about a week of good sailing weather. We would need a good window because we were not going to be allowed on shore again until we were out of the Keys. So on May 21st we headed off. Weather was good, nice winds.....until it wasn't. So much for the weather forecast. We stopped at Bahia Honda State Park, the weather was building, as were the wind and waves so we popped in between two bridges and dropped anchor. We were there for four days until the weather let up. While we were there we couldn't go ashore, Roxy was not happy but Phoebe was content to just sit in our laps, or on deck. She had no fear and would run around the deck making us a little nervous. While at Bahia Honda we almost witness to a tragic event. a family was anchored not far from us, they had a float pad behind the boat where the kids and their dog were playing, the dog slipped off the pad and the young boy went in after it. The current was very strong, over 2.5kts and the boy wasn't able to make any headway back to the boat. The mother jumped in after them and she also was unable to swim back. They were slowly losing ground and had no lifejackets. The daughter who was on the boat threw out a couple of jackets and ran in to get the father. He successfully launched the dinghy to go out and get them. We always drop a line in the water when we swim just for this reason, a day before we had gone into the water and decided that the current was just too strong. We're so happy this had a happy ending as it could have turned out much worse!
We left Bahia Honda and headed to Rodriguez Key, FL. The weather was a little sporty but we were making great time and we were enjoying the sail...well everyone except Roxy was enjoying the sail. Rodriquez Key, FL was a great anchorage. The weather had calmed down and we were able to do a little swimming and dropped the dinghy in the water to explore(still not allowed on shore). After 2 days of very enjoyable anchorage we departed for Miami where we anchored in Biscayne Bay. There were some very large party boats there, some with their own slide (see photos). From there the gauntlet of bridges, over 26 just to Fort Lauderdale, where we stopped and could at last get off the boat. Roxy was very happy!
Several stops later we were in Vero Beach where we spent some time with Mary & Gene (Amy's sister and brother in law) had some beach time,a few nice dinners, reprovision and off again. The next big stop was St Augustine, where we stayed for 4 days. Up to the is point we had travelled on the Intracoastal Waterway. We decided for this next leg we would go "outside" to avoid the Georgia crazy anchoring laws and some very "skinny" water.
As luck would have it we lost our engine that evening, but hey, we are a sailboat so we pressed on. Remember the light to no winds we had on the gulf? Well the North Atlantic wasn't much better, so we decided to call it a day and head into Brunswick GA. So much for avoiding GA. We ended up calling for Tow Boat US to come out and tow us in the rest of the way. It was the fastest the boat has gone since we owned her. The repairs took a little over 2 weeks while we waited for a mechanics time and parts. Once again topping off water we were ready to go when tragedy hit. Phoebe had a seizure a couple of days before we were going to head out, then another the following day. She was having one a day, she might miss a day but then have two the next. We didn't want to be either on the ICW or offshore with a sick dog. So we stayed put and made some trips to the vet. We started her on some anti-seizure meds but there wasn't much improvement. By this time we were entering hurricane season and 2020 was looking to be a very active one.
We had planned on being in Chicago at the beginning of August for two weddings and a reunion but thanks to Covid the weddings were postponed. We did go back to see the family since we were still feeling unsure of Phoebe's health. It was on this trip back home that we lost Phoebe. What we feared would happen, did happen and she had three seizures in the very early morning of August 5th and she didn't really come out of them. Phoebe was one of the sweetest dogs we have had and she will be missed.
Back in Brunswick, we still couldn't leave as the storm season was in full swing, we also knew that we had to go back to Chicago for the holidays so we needed a safe place for the boat. We started calling marinas in Florida for a slip in December but everything was booked. No one was traveling due to the virus. Boats that would have been in the Bahamas were staying in Florida. So Brunswick it is. We will finish out the year here. Then we are off to _______? Well we are not sure. Bahamas, the Keys or Gulf Coast of Florida. We will see where the pandemic leads us. There is hope on the horizon with a vaccine coming.
It has been an adventure that I wouldn't trade. We made some great friends that maybe we wouldn't have if we didn't get "stuck" at places. So, here's to a new year with new adventures. We will not be going into the great lakes this year as we feel we missed too much on the East Coast and Chesapeake Bay. So next summer that is the plan, maybe we will see the great lakes in 2022.
Be safe, enjoy life and have a Happy New Year!