Cycle 3 and Northbound

     At the end of my last post, Cobbe and parents were still visiting. He enjoyed seeing manatees, dolphin, many species of fish and especially the Cassiopeia jellyfish in Boot Key Harbor. He also took my guided tour of Crane Point Hammock and Nature Center. After the family visit we started preparing the boat for our passages north towards home and Carol flew to Ohio for work.

     The weather was forecast to turn nasty for a while so I took the last window to head out into the ocean by myself to get up to Miami to meet Carol. The ocean passage was not bad, some swell, and I went up to the Channel 5 bridge to return to the ICW inside route. The only problem was Cleo got seasick. Not used to being at sea after 4 months in harbor, I guess. The ICW part of this passage was very hot and calm. Without our usual helm change every hour, I got a little too much sun. That is something I am supposed to avoid. Oh well. I anchored in Tarpon Basin at Key Largo for the night. It was fairly crowded with 6 boats there.

     The next day was a passage up to Key Biscayne. Not as sunny and hot to start and I had a 15 minute, zero visibility deluge to make it interesting. Luckily the waterspouts and 60mph winds went elsewhere. Also had some fun dolphin encounters to balance out the weather issues.  No Name Harbor at Key Biscayne was packed with boats so I had to anchor outside the harbor to wait for Carol.

     Carol flew into Miami on Saturday and cabbed to No Name. Because of wind and current we went up to Virginia Key for wind protection and less current. This is a new anchoring spot for us on the opposite side of the island from Marine Stadium. We tried to leave Miami on Sunday but encountered 8 to 10 foot seas just off the bow and 20 to 25 knots of wind from the NE in the ocean off Miami. Gusts were higher. Needless to say, we turned around and went back to Virginia Key. A waste of 2 hours of fuel and subjecting the boat and us to a lot of wear and tear. We stayed at Virginia Key until Wednesday, totally messing up our plans for Cycle 3 of chemo and our trip to Fort Pierce.

     On Wednesday we again left Virginia Key and headed out to the ocean. We met up with only 2-3 ft. seas on the beam and had a not too terrible sail to Ft. Lauderdale. Not real fun but nowhere near the worst we've ever had. In Ft. Lauderdale we took a mooring at Las Olas City Marina. Expensive but it meant we had showers, dinghy dockage and some security while leaving the boat for medical treatment.

     Having been in Miami and taking the boat to Lauderdale, we then rented a car to DRIVE back to Miami (Coral Gables). Make sense? Actually it does. The reasons are above plus we were also a day closer to future anchorages.

     The drive to Coral Gables was about 75 minutes long with traffic which was way less than past drives to chemo from Marathon. With all the hassles of getting to the Cancer Center, the infusion this month was a breeze. The IV was started on the first attempt, I had no bad reactions to the drugs AND there were snacks again. What more could I ask for? We even got back to Lauderdale with time to go out for dinner which has become our pattern. Went to a dive we've visited several times in the past. Southport Grill. My blackened Mahi on a Ceasar Salad was really, really good.

     Day 2 of this cycle was not scheduled until 2pm because only one drug is put in me on these second days. We used the time to go and mail our taxes, get a propane refill and go to a BJs store. Going to BJs was not well thought out. We got there 10 minutes after it opened to find a line the length of the store outside. COVID-19 panic buying was happening inside. We scored the valued toilet paper and tissues but I had to abandon the cart and snare the packages by hand and run. This was our normal restock for our northern run but everyone else was hoarding. The line to exit/checkout was the whole depth of the store plus the width. Crazy. We were lucky to get out of there in about 45 minutes.

     After taking care of that boat business, it was back for more chemo. Who would think the commute and chemo would be the easier part of the day? It took 2 tries to get the IV started but after that it was quick and easy. We breezed through and headed back to the boat.

     Saturday morning we got underway taking the inside, ICW route. This let us get fuel at Sands Harbor Marina. The bridges between Lauderdale and Palm Beach are a pain but we got through them without major waiting time. A night anchored at Lake Worth was followed by a pleasant ocean passage to Fort Pierce. Started a little choppy but ended up fairly calm. We spent an afternoon/evening with old friends, Mike and Carol, and then it was back on the 'road' north.

     We are only one day behind our planned days of chemo and travelling time but now we have a 'schedule'. We have to be in Annapolis, MD in 24 days to drive home for Cycle 4 of chemo. Cruisers know that schedules are very bad, no good things. Very dangerous. And we have no cushion now for the inevitable weather delays. Annapolis is 24 travelling days away. Pushing to make a schedule makes for very bad decision making. We know this and will have to fight the urge to take chances. We have some alternatives if we fall behind but none of them are great. We'll have to see how it all develops.

     Oh, to wrap up... I'm feeling fine after the chemo and all the hassles. 100%