Waiting in Florida

One of the tenets of sailing is to never have a deadline. Too many variables need to come together to stay safe while having a good sail. For example, wind direction and strength, tides, currents, rain...you get it. So we never had an actual date for crossing to the Bahamas. But, it's been over 3 months since we left in September, and some of the reasons other than weather, have been friends and family, and health issues.

As we travelled south, we kept in touch with Lou's first cousin, Lainie, (on his mother's side) who lives in Boca Raton. Lainie understood our need to provision the boat for food during the months we would be out of the states. Since the Bahamas is actually composed of 700 islands, not all of them have inhabitants, some of them have very small communities with only a few stores, and, we have learned that if you can get food, it's pretty pricey since it has to be shipped in by boat or plane. Even water for the boat will come at a cost. The islands are not suitable for agriculture, and very little is grown there. So, Lainie invited us to stay with her and while we visited we were able to shop. She even lent us her car to go to Costco, Wal-Mart, and Publix, the local supermarket. (I love this market. The customer really is treated valuably.) Here is only one shopping jaunt we made over the course of several weeks. Can you believe we found room in the boat to stow it? (Thanks again to Lainie who stored several bags of stuff for us in her garage.)

As if that weren't all,Lainie made arrangements with her friends, Elaine and Bob Born for us to leave Ripple Effect at their dock in Jupiter. The Borns no longer have a boat and were only too happy to have the neighbors think they were sailing again. But we benefitted from the experience in more than one way - the Borns turned out to be such gracious and warm people that we felt we had made new friends. Here is a picture of Elaine on the left and Lainie on the right.

(Note the beard Lou grew. He looked great, but shaved it off for an appointment with a dermatologist.) After a few days with Lainie, our friends Carol and Cliff Hillman, picked us up to spend a few days with them in Boynton Beach. We had intended on renting a car, but the holidays made it very difficult, so the Hillmans generously chauffered us around to doctors and stores; Carol took me to her hairstylist, Grace, who gave me a wonderful short cut for my trip south; I even found a great spa to have a facial!

Once shore leave was over and we returned to the boat, we traveled down to North Palm Beach where Lou contacted Carol Schein, first cousin to Lou on his father's side. Lou doesn't see Carol very often, and they enjoyed reminiscing about their childhood going boating with their parents. I met Carol only once before at her grandson's bar mitzvah, and I was so impressed with the closeness of her family and their warmth and interest in me. This visit was no different.

While in North Palm, our friend Cliff Milo called. Cliff has an apartment within walking distance of our marina. He and his partner, Arthur, are enduring the cold of New York and the Cape, down with colds, and they offered to have us stay in the North Palm apartment. This is not just any apartment. They have renovated and decorated so that they now have a stunning deluxe apartment which we were delighted to use during the worst cold front Florida has seen in many years. In fact, we were lucky to be able to take advantage of this opportunity since the apartment is for sale (any takers?).

Our next stop was an anchorage off the IntraCoastal Waterway between Palm Beach which is a barrier island and Port of Palm Beach, the area originally housing the workers for the rich of Palm Beach. Our plan was to rent a car to

• visit doctors: a follow up visit to Lou's dermatolgist, a podiatrist and hand specialist for me
• do the final food shopping (mostly perishables) before heading out to the Bahamas (it took two dinghy rides to bring all of the bags)
• and register the new inflatable dinghy we were forced to buy after ours developed a huge hole from the floor separating from the air tubes. Thank goodness Lou discovered it before we got into the water! That would have been a wet surprise!

To make the occasion more enjoyable than two days of unending chores, Cliff and Carol invited us to dinner and overnight stay, so we were able to see them again replete with martinis and Carol's legendary homemade soup, do a final wash before the passage, and take a last warm, luxurious shower before having to conserve water aboard for the cruise ahead.

What wonderful, gracious friends and family we have! We are indebted to them for their support and assistance.

Finally, we arrived today in Fort Lauderdale after our first sail in the ocean in over two months. Peter and Nancy will meet us tomorrow, and if the weather holds up, we will make an early start across the Gulf to Bimini. To keep in touch, we will use calling cards and Skype, a voice interactive program on the internet. If you sign up for it, too, it can be very low cost: only $3 a month. Go to Skype.com for a free download and demo call. Our cell phones won't work, but I'll try to update the blog as is possible; send comments! We would love to hear from you. (Unfortunately, I haven't found a way to reply to your messages, only publish them.)

Next stop, Bahamas...

What

would we do without such wonderful friends and family? We are indebted to them for their support and assistance.

Traveling Down the ICW

The Great Dismal Swamp in Virginia (see a previous post), was the beginning of the Intra Coastal Waterway, or ICW, which many cruisers take south to Florida. It is slow due to shallow depths and restricted bridge openings causing us to motor most of the way; but it has been interesting and in many parts, beautiful to see. As we've been traveling down, we've passed through sounds, bays, rivers, and numerous creeks. It is mind boggling to see the interconnected bodies of water flowing from one to another. And the names of the waterways and islands are fascinating, too: Runaway Slave Creek, Point No Point, Clubfoot Creek, Frying Pan Shoal, Sleepy Creek, Mosquito Creek, Turn Again Bay, Lettuce Lake... When we crossed the border into South Carolina, the scenery changed to what we dubbed as Condo Land replete with miles of golf courses, but the southern part of the state became more natural; in Georgia, we passed mile after mile of unspoiled salt marshes. Now that we are in Florida, we have to contend with speeding power boats, numerous request bridges and condominiums. Contrast the two pictures here - the Georgian salt marshes and the first development of condos as soon as we crossed into the state of Florida.

Every boater's fear is running aground on the ICW. Many parts of it are dredged and you can find only 1 to three feet of water out of the channel. Consequently, we watch our depth sounders religiously. Getting distracted for a minute can be death and dismemberment (Lou's words for those who know him). One day, after coming upon a grounded boat and trying unsuccessfully to help free it from the sand bar it was on, we ended up grounding ourselves at the end of the day! How did we do it? Lou and I were so busy discussing the inner workings of the boat (can you believe I am discussing this!) that we took a wrong turn off of the ICW. Low tide didn't help. We couldn't have chosen a better time or place to run aground, however. Our creek was deserted and flanked by trees on the one side and the golden reeds of the salt marshes on the other. So, we anchored; Lou used a special anchor and technique, kedging off, to free us as the tide came in. As night fell, we were surrounded by darkness and the stars above - no lights visible anywhere! The next morning, we were free and headed out into the sunshine. We had been lucky enough to be able to turn lemons into lemonade, and no one was about to see us in our predicament! Stopping along the ICW whether we anchor in the middle of nowhere, pull into the harbor of a city, or stop in a recognized anchorage, brings treats and delights. Here are shots from the former Flagler Hotel, now a college, in St. Augustine; a popular sandy island where we successfully flew our kite!; and, an anchorage nowhere special.

Well, we have made it down this far - today we are in North Palm Beach and have only 9 days left before meeting Peter Packer, another of Lou's former boat buddies who will be joining us in the passage over to the Bahamas...We hope the new year will be fun, adventurous and healthy for all of you reading this.