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!
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.
