April 26, 2020 – We had thunderstorms in the evening after supper on Saturday, and the forecast was for more on Sunday. The line of storms were already lined up across the state by morning, so we decided that we’d sit tight until later in the day, to see when, or whether, it was safe to go.
That gave us a chance to do a big Hagar family Zoom chat, with Ben’s parents, brothers and families, and our son Greg. By the time that was over, the storms were past, none were ahead of us, and there was time to start moving north before another round rolled in.
It turned out to be the right call, as we had very clear sailing during the 48 miles up to Melbourne, without so much as a raindrop.
We began to get out of the built-up areas, and out into some less developed areas, or areas with less ostentatious homes.
We saw a lot more fishing boats, and people were clearly leaning forward into more normal activity out on the water. Everything from jetskis to pontoon boats, skiffs to bassboats, center consoles and sportfish boats. There were some neat islands all along the waterway, apparently public, many of which had sandbars or beaches. Folks were sparse, and well spaced, but definitely pursuing some non-lockdown activity.
It turns out, these are ‘spoils islands’; spoils is what is collected when they dredge the channel to allow navigation on the ICW, and in many areas in Florida, these piles of sand, rock and coral have become conservation or recreation resources.
More information on the Spoil Island Project is at this link.
Even though we got a late start today, we dropped anchor at just after 5, and enjoyed this sunset under the bridge from Melbourne to Indialantic.
