Thursday, October 27, 2011

Back to the Islands


We had a terrific summer with family and friends.  We saw lots of friends, dined, partied, had adventures – so nice to not be interrupted by work.  We were blessed by several extended visits from grandson, Jackson and his mom.  Even though he woke us up at 5:30 (and earlier) he quieted down once Pam took him down to play with all his toys.  Glen made sure to sleep in so he could help out later in the day.  Jen wonders if he is over-stimulated… do you think???  Toys-R-Us checks with us to see what we have in stock
What that means is that we had decidedly mixed feelings when it came time to head south.  It is a very schizophrenic life.  We love being at home with family and dear friends.  We love being on the boat for all the simplicity, the romance of the sea, the adventures and all the new people we meet.
A funny thing happened on the way to the Seattle airport.  Carrie drove us to Bellingham where we picked up a rental car.  Our sailing friend, Sid (Quest,) told us last year of a great summer sausage from Costco that doesn’t need refrigeration – available in Bellingham but not in West Palm Beach.  Hmmm… that would be great on the boat.  We stopped at the Costco in Bellingham and bought four 3-pound sausages.  When we checked our duffle bag at the airport it was 6 pounds overweight so two of the two-foot long sausages went into Glen’s carry-on bag along with the 4 pounds of smoked salmon already in there.  At security, Glen had to have his bag rechecked and the two sausages went through the x-ray machine by themselves.  In-flight snack?
Overnighted in Orlando and then drove through orange groves and cattle ranches to Indiantown.  A lovely drive, directed by Otto’s friend, our car GPS, Madeline.
So we are happy and sad to be off. 
Except, TODAY WAS LIKE CHRISTMAS!!!  We were able to see the beautiful Blue Pearl and moved her into the work yard.

We picked up all the new toys we have ordered – like cockpit lights, a new knotmeter part, stainless bimini fittings, wire, cordless hair clippers, a new refrigeration unit, a new waste holding tank (don’t ask), tons of Sailrite sewing stuff (Pam) with more to come.  Woooo hoooooo!


We hope to be done with chores in the next two weeks and then head to West Palm Beach to wait for a weather window.

We plan to be in Georgetown, Bahamas by December 9 when we will leave the boat for 3 weeks to go home.  Then our penciled-in plan is to leave Georgetown in early January for the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rica and the Virgin Islands.  All that can change.  Our kids keep interfering in our good plans with grandchildren and weddings.  We’ll see how it goes.  However it goes – we’re in the warm on a sailboat – can’t beat that!
So – what’s up with Hurricane Rina??!!