Hooray! Just three or four nasty storms and East Coast Florida hoped we had dodged the bullet for 2011. As November gets closer, typically the risk of storms is much less on the coast and people begin to think about moving on, possibly more boat work and holiday gatherings. Some fly off to visit family and friends in distant countries leaving their boats for awhile.
Dan and I were in that group. We had made plans to drive our car to visit in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Additionally, Dan needed to take classes to keep his MA contractor license.
By then we had also decided that we liked the Bahamas and since the Bahama Islands lay only an overnight trip away "really",(well, yeah, you have to go south toward Miami first and that takes time)-- to the Bahamas we would go. We agreed that once we spent time there, we would decide if we preferred to --return to Florida, return to Florida and travel (fly) to Europe, maybe Rome, or perhaps just continue on to "somewhere" by sailboat.
Another dock gathering-- this guy from Kentucky brought peaches infused with homemade moonshine
Hamming a bit
Great live music
A little boogie-woogie
Now it was down to business to get ready for the Bahamas. We'd wanted an enclosure since our trip to Newfoundland. People suggested an enclosure was terrific for Florida rain and sun, too. A local canvas worker, Keith Dufretus, designed this enclosure to fit our existing stainless steel bimini set up. Great job, fair price--recommended.
Here's Keith installing.
See our dodger zipper. Designed to roll up or zip out.
Fitting the tricky angles of the entry.
We used U zips to allow for cross ventilation and also large U zips on the port and starboard rear panels to allow good access to winches. In the picture these three panels, U zip in middle one, form the enclosure for the stern behind the driving seat. Cozy!
Workmanship is supurb
Dodger, bimini close to on the same level
Added a support stainless rod on each side. We have an arch and the bimini is braced on that, too.
We saw the new enclosure work when we returned from our trip to Massachusetts; Greenfield, Longmeadow, Boston, and New Hampshire.
Playing and walking with Marley (big one)---
my son, Steven and Christa's dog.
We visited Max BMW in New Hampshire but this is near a relatives home. We are really enjoying the color in the trees of Autumn,
flower beds,
and other reminders of Fall in New England.
BEAUTIFUL!
But also beautiful and tasty was the rissoto prepared by our daughter-in-law, Anina, who is studying at Boston College and preparing culinary delights as part of her Gastronomy program for teachers and fellow students but also...
YUMmmmm!
for our son, Tom. Tom, poor man, had to split his attention between eating, catching up with us, and completing a new project launch for work while we visited.
Next day we took a walk with Anina and Tom in Boston
Had a great lunch stop on rooftop patio.
All too soon we returned to Florida- to have a new mainsail designed, stitched and installed by Morgan Sails.(We're very happy with it and they met our deadline)
Hauled out our boat at Westland Marina and recoated the bottom with copperized bottom paint.
Updated and renewed our Coast Guard licences, including buying the necessary TWIC card,. The TWIC is some new Homeland Security tag that for boaters such as ourselves, was useless and expensive. I must editorialize here- Dan and I both have US Birth Certificates, Florida auto licenses, US Coast Guard renewable licenses, and US Passports. On return to Key West with Sea Star we had to have a pre-arranged Sticker number from the US Coast Guard. Why do we (and many others in the same position) also need Transportation Workers Identification at $130 each- plus travel to Orlando? Grr. Ridiculous!
Checking the sails for wear.
Holidays on the dock such as Thanksgiving, are communal affairs. The community may ask the anchored boats if they want to be involved and then we all do pot luck preparations to be sure we have "enough." Well, personally I have never been to a cruiser pot-luck where there was any problem with "enough."
Above is my boat oven showing my turkey, an 11 pounder, I managed to squish into my limited clearance space and still bake it perfectly.
Here is Glen with the tur-duck-en method of whole turkey, quick cooking--
Gary carrying it to the waiting table-- with Eric, the carver, behind Gary.
We're done. Food is out and we can relax. We were looking forward to a visit from some cruiser friends who had bought an RV and were stopping in Titusville. Great to see Doris and Tom and the folks from the big trawler.
Fellow cruisers also working towards getting to the Bahamas.
Oh yes, we had prime rib, too.
and just a few more items-think there will be enough??
OH YES THERE WAS!
Last item of the next day, Dan replaced the SSB antenna. Note where he is standing! Good Job.
On into December 2011
