Today, we made great progress in readying the boat for haul out – or, for a long hot couple months in a marina. We removed all the canvas, all the running rigging, the davits and solar panels, the boom, stored the dinghy on deck and did dozens of other odd jobs. In the morning, we will clean out the fridge and be gone.

When we first arrived here, all marinas were open. Shortly thereafter, Miami-Dade County, just south of us, closed their marinas. Today, the county we are in also announced that marinas were closing down. Our appointment to have the boat put on a trailer is on friday and it’s one more county to the North. Will the marinas there stay open? Hard to say. It’s looking less likely every day. Unfortunately, we need to place our bet by Thursday morning in order for the boat to be there on time for our appointment. We will be keeping our fingers tightly crossed for the next few days.

Either way, we are leaving tomorrow morning by car. We have hired a delivery captain to bring the boat north for haul out, or if has to stay put, to close the through-holes and look in on it every so often and do a few things to help it endure the heat. We will wait until businesses open (or not) to see if there’s any news that impacts us, then head out and start driving. I’m guessing we will not have any traffic congestion!