January 2rd, Yesterday we finished shopping for supplies and said our sad goodbyes to parents. Today we are getting Seaesta ready to head out to the east coast and then across to the Bahamas. Final preparations always seem to take forever. A lot of mold has developed aboard while the boat has been shut up so I am bleaching everything that does not move. The weather is warm but windy. Preparations are easier than last year since we know what to expect in the Bahamas.
January 3th, Yes, we were supposed to leave Fort Myers Beach today ???, but James couldn't stand to leave when we were paid up until the 6th of January. (Wasting $8) So he is fixing the windlass and I am still killing the mold...
This time last year I was so hot and found the temperature here hard to handle. But this year I am relishing the 80 degree weather and the palm trees swaying in the breeze. Going back to the freezing temperatures of New England is going to be an adjustment..
January 4th, We called up family again and said, hey we are still here, want to get together. Had a Grand Day Out with relatives, but had to say Goodbye again!.
January 5th Finished fixing the windlass, now we can anchor safely again.
January 6th Left Fort Myers Beach and sailed east. The journey to the east coast took a few days. We planned the lake crossing in calm winds. The sugar fields were being burnt and harvested, sending every type of florida bug on the wind across the lake to our boat. Heather sailed while the rest of the family took cover below with netting across the opening. Cabbage butterflies, nats, lovebugs, roaches, spiders and biting houseflies all descended on Seaesta. Heather felt like her skin was crawling and needed a shower after we anchored. We sailed under the short railroad bridge without too much trouble ,now that we have tipped the boat four times.
January 15th We are still in Stuart, Florida on the east coast. N27 11 53, W80 15 99. We have been remembering items to purchase before we go to the Bahamas, where shopping is limited. We are also waiting for another boat called "Emotional Rescue" to meet up with us to venture around the Bahamas with. While in Stuart the hot water heater broke, rusted through. The hour meter for the engine broke and the custom made exhaust pipe of the engine broke at a weld. The joys of cruising!! James spent many days fixing things while Heather and the kids made up a song to the tune of "One more river to cross" changing the words to "one more boat part to fix."
January 23nd -January 30 We meet up with the boat "Emotional Rescue". We sailed down to lake worth next to Palm Beach and waited and waited for a weather window to arrive. The land surrounding lake worth inlet is broken into two sections. The rich ocean side section and the poor servant section inland. We spent a nice day at a laundrymat washing clothes and talking to the locals who were mostly spanish. We saw a window in the forcast but Heather had a bad gut feeling so we postponed the travel across the gulf stream. That night winds across Florida reached over 70 mph in microbursts then went out to sea. Lucky we were not at sea at the time. Instead of waiting further in Lake Worth we decided to travel south to Miami. |
