by Judy Handley | Feb 8, 2016 | Sailing Logs Year 11 |
Day 109, Year 11: Across the Bridge
Date: Monday, February 8, 2016
Weather: Mostly Sunny, Not as Windy, Still Cool with High 60’s, Low 50’s
Location: At Anchor in West Palm Beach City Anchorage, FL
You wouldn’t think just walking across the bridge to a different town would make such a difference, but it does. West Palm Beach is nice and feels normal. But when you walk across the bridge to Palm Beach, you can almost smell the money. It is obviously a very wealthy community. We are anchored between the city docks on the west side of the Intracoastal in West Palm Beach. At this point the Intracoastal is less than a half mile across and on the west side is Palm Beach. This morning we walked across the bridge to the Palm Beach side to go to the post office, bank, and drug store. After crossing the bridge we headed south along the water and immediately everything looks and feels just a little too perfect. The bike/walking path is fantastic, very wide with nice views across to West Palm Beach. When the path ended we were on upscale Worth Avenue. In 2013 it was voted one of the top three “Most Iconic” streets in America. We have driven down that street before, but never walked its length. You don’t realize that there are stores until you look closely. All of the buildings look similar and overhanging balconies and flowering vines disguise the real purpose of the buildings. The number of upscale clothing and jewelry stores is mind-blowing—all of the ones you have heard of and a whole lot of ones that you haven’t. I loved the one called Trillion. I’m sure you could spend that much buying a wardrobe in there. At the end of the avenue, we turned the corner to find a post office that was ‘normal’—except for the clientele. Both women in front of us were wearing obviously very expensive designer clothes, one with a mink cape and the other with a very fashionable, belted felt coat. I’ve stood in lots of lines in lots of post offices over the years, but have never followed women dressed like that! We walked back by way of Royal Palm Boulevard, lined on both sides with lovely royal palm trees. We stopped just before the bridge and to have a rest and snack on the lawn at The Society of the Four Arts and then headed back to ‘normal’ land in West Palm Beach. In total we walked four miles in the sunshine and it felt great. I’m sure we’ll retrace our steps many times while we are here as it makes a perfect walk with lots of ‘interesting’ sites.
Tonight we went back to shore and walked to the public library to hear local news columnist Frank Cerabino give his version of this week’s news. He was very good and very funny, but then he had a lot of great material with the political debates leading up to the Iowa caucus and tomorrow’s primary in New Hampshire. He supplements his talk with video clips and slides—informative and entertaining. We’ll certainly go to hear him every Monday night while we are here.
Tomorrow we are thinking of taking the bus to Mounts Botanical Garden, a little south and west of here, but still in West Palm Beach. They have a display of almost 500,000 Lego ‘bricks’ that have been made into quite sizable animals. The animals have been strategically placed throughout the gardens. Valentine’s Day is the last day of this exhibit, so if we don’t go tomorrow, we will certainly make it one day this week.
by Judy Handley | Feb 7, 2016 | Sailing Logs Year 11 |
Day 108, Year 11: The Happening Place
Date: Sunday, February 7, 2016
Weather: Mostly Sunny, Windy, High 60’s, Low 40’s, On the Cool Side
Location: At Anchor in West Palm Beach City Anchorage, FL
Things cooled down here a bit today. After a night of rain, the sun came out today, but the temp only reached the 60’s. In fact, until next Saturday it looks like we will have days in the 60’s, maybe the low 70’s, and nights in the 40’s or low 50’s. I think we’ll have to break out the comforter. But I see that school is already cancelled for tomorrow in Falmouth due to another snow storm headed that way. So we won’t complain about the weather here.
Mark spent his day working on the watermaker while I read. We turned the watermaker on yesterday. It worked fine for a bit and then it started making a banging sound. That always means trouble. So today Mark took it out, took it apart, and put it back in. No go. He took it out, took it apart, put it back together again, and this time it worked. He thinks it was a stuck pop-it valve, whatever that is. But it is working tonight, so that is good.
Late in the afternoon we went to shore to take our daily walk. We walked north along the waterfront and came back through town. As we neared the main street, Clematis Street, we heard loud music . . . again. This time we found part of Clematis Street roped off for a SuperBowl Street Party. This town is the happening place. There is always something going on. I found out today that this coming Saturday there will be Fresh Fest in the park across from the dock. It is billed as a healthy living event and it is free. When Alan and Helaine get here on Saturday, we’ll check it out.
by Judy Handley | Feb 6, 2016 | Sailing Logs Year 11 |
Day 107, Year 11: Quiet Day at Anchor . . . Until Mid-Afternoon
Date: Saturday, February 6, 2016
Weather: Mostly Sunny, High Temp Upper 70’s F, Rain Tonight
Location: At Anchor in West Palm Beach City Anchorage, FL
Just as we were getting ready to head to the dock to go to the GreenMarket this morning, we got a call from Lee. His dinghy outboard was being returned from the repair shop and he wanted our help getting it off the dock and onto the dinghy transom. Mitch of Journey also helped and we were successful in getting it onto the transom without dunking it in the water. As much as the repairs cost, that would have been a real disaster. Lee was a happy man to have his outboard back and running smoothly. Mark and I then continued our walk across the street to the Saturday GreenMarket. We got diverted, however, by something we have never seen before. A guy was being held in the air by strong jets of water from hoses attached to a jet ski. The water jets were strong enough to keep him suspended in the air while he did aerial acrobats. This guy made it look easy, but later in the day we saw jet ski operators teaching people new to this sport. They spent more time in the water than in the air. It looked like fun, but I think it is something I surely don’t need to try. We continued our journey and did a lot of ‘window’ shopping at the GreenMarket. They have a bit of everything there, but the price tag for most is more than we are willing to spend. We did get some organic veggies and a new basil plant and then we walked on. We probably walked about 2.5 miles before returning to Windbird. Once back on the boat, we were having a nice, quiet day at anchor until mid-afternoon when all of sudden we were bombarded by very loud music from shore. Lynda and Lee are anchored closer to shore than us and Lynda sent a text saying it sounded like they were in the middle of a bass drum. It was making Lynda very cranky so Mitch sent a text reminder her that we were getting the music without having to pay admission to the affair. But the heavy bass was vibrating everything on Windbird and was definitely a little overwhelming. We just held our heads and tried to enjoy the music as we read. When I went down to fix dinner, we turned on the engine and started the watermaker. That fixed the music problem for a while. But they are still going strong at 9 pm. It is a Tropical Rum Festival and it will end at 10 pm. Lee is a rum lover so I think it would have been less noisy to be at the festival drinking rum. A couple of hours ago it started pouring the rain, but that didn’t deter the music. Maybe tomorrow will be a quieter day.
Jane Woodin sent a correction to last night’s log. I misunderstood what she told me on the phone. Falmouth got 5-6 inches of heavy snow yesterday, not 3-4 feet. Big difference. Thanks for keeping me honest, Jane.
by Judy Handley | Feb 5, 2016 | Sailing Logs Year 11 |
Day 106, Year 11: Connecting with Friends
Date: Friday, February 5, 2016
Weather: Overcast, Winds Northerly 15-20, Rain Overnight, High Temp Upper 60’s F
Location: At Anchor in West Palm Beach City Anchorage, FL
Today was all about connecting with friends . . . on the phone and in person. We had a nice, late get up after a windy, rainy overnight. The wind blew all night and all day, but the temperature climbed from the 50’s into 60’s fairy early, so we were warm enough. Some reports say it hit 73 today, but I have a hard time believing that. It looks like we are in for cool temperatures over all of next week before it warms up again for Valentine’s Day. But cool is relative. We’ll still have days in the 60’s. Even though that feels cool down here, it’s better than up north, so we’ll gladly take it.
Mark spent time working on his consulting job today and I emailed and called friends. I talked to Helaine Kanegsberg from New Hampshire. She and Alan are here in Florida visiting and we arranged for them to come here next Saturday. They will spend the night on Windbird and then take Mark to the airport on their way to Fort Lauderdale on Sunday. We are so glad they are going to be able to spent time with us. Then I talked to Lynne Kirwin in Nyack, New York. It is wintry up there, but she and Ed are so excited that they are going to get away for a couple of weeks that the snow is not bothering them. After Ed’s chemo treatment on Monday, they are going to drive to Georgia to visit their boat, Constance. Due to Ed’s health situation, they left the boat so quickly last spring that they took nothing with them. This is the first chance they have had to return to Constance, so in addition to checking on the boat, they plan to bring lots of things back home with them. Ed has been in chemo treatment since last spring and is elated that he now feels good enough to travel again. Go, Ed!
After finishing his work for the day, Mark did some research into places here in West Palm where he could have chemo treatments if that is what is prescribed as a result of his trip to Boston. We learned yesterday that there is a of the Cleveland Clinic Florida in Weston which is west of Fort Lauderdale. It is associated with THE Cleveland Clinic and has a good reputation. What we didn’t know is that there are about four branch clinics located here in the West Palm Beach area. One is at City Place which is within easy walking distance. Plus, the free trolley goes from just across the street from the dock to there. Mark was able to call and get himself registered on the phone, so if he does need to have chemo while we are here, we won’t have to get to Fort Lauderdale every two weeks like we did last year. This will be so convenient. We’ll hope he doesn’t have to resume treatment right now, but better to be prepared than not.
By this time it was mid-afternoon and we decided to brave the winds and row to shore. We were hoping that a good long walk would do for Mark what it did yesterday. He felt better after yesterday’s walk than he has in weeks. Unfortunately, the walk today didn’t do the same. But we did get some groceries that we needed and stayed in town to have dinner with friends. While I was in the grocery store, Mark walked to the post office to see if we can receive mail here c/o General Delivery and we can. Since we are going to be here a few weeks, we were just curious. We walked from the grocery store back downtown and saw the neatest new thing on the way. Where there was an empty lot last year, this year there is a community park with a musical swings. Different swings play the music of different instruments—piano, harp, guitar, and vibraphone. Each swing can play the notes Do-Re-Mi-Fa depending on how high you swing. It is intended to encourage cooperative ventures between people on the different swings. How cool! I want one of these in Falmouth. But we tore ourselves away and continued walking to the Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach where I wanted to pick up a calendar of activities. There are so many free lectures, classes, and music presentations at the library and we’d like to attend some of these. As we left the library, I noticed that I had a missed call on my phone. It was Jane Woodin back in Falmouth, so we stopped and I called and talked to Jane. She reported that they had 2-3 feet of very heavy snow today. We haven’t talked to Heather and gang so I don’t know if it is too wet and heavy to play in or not, but I’m sure those Goldpebbles found some way of having fun in it.
After the call from Jane, it was time to meet Lee and Lynda of Sea Turtle and Mitch and Martha of Journey. Mitch and Martha are buddy boating with Lee and Lynda this season. Mark had made arrangements with Lee for us to have dinner together. It seems crazy that we have all been here in the same anchorage for a week and are just now getting to see one another. They will probably be headed to Fort Lauderdale on Monday so it was great to have this chance to say hello in person.
Tomorrow is supposed to be a lazy day. We will try to make it to shore to go to the Saturday GreenMarket in the park across from the dock. But that will be the extent of our activity tomorrow. It is supposed to rain and it sounds like a great day to sit on the boat and read.
by Judy Handley | Feb 4, 2016 | Sailing Logs Year 11 |
Day 105, Year 11: Visit to Boynton Beach
Date: Thursday, February 4, 2016
Weather: Partly Sunny and Windy, High Temp in the 80’s
Location: At Anchor in West Palm Beach City Anchorage, FL
What a nice day. We reluctantly got out of bed early and headed to the Tri-rail Station to take the train to Boca Raton. I ‘won’ a raffle that I entered at the Bonita Art Show the other day that got us invited to a sales presentation for a wholesale travel club. We went to the 90-minute presentation because we were promised a free vacation just for attending. We walked away with our gift, but almost bought into the travel club. Their financial information on savings using their travel club membership was very convincing. We could have paid for the membership, but then we would have no money left to go on the trips. We were saved by a lack of money, but we did get our free trip. After the presentation, Brad picked us up and took us back north to Boynton Beach to visit with my niece Lynn. She is here visiting with Brad and Sue for the week and we really enjoyed our afternoon together. Sue’s sister Ginny also joined us. As always, Sue provided a fantastic lunch. Then in the early evening, Brad and Lynn drove us back to West Palm Beach. On Thursday nights, the city sponsors something called “Clematis by Night.” Clematis is the name of the main street in West Palm Beach. Every Thursday evening a different music group provides live music in the heart of the city and loads of people bring chairs and come to listen. We enjoyed the music for a bit and then walked across the street to The Tin Fish. This is our favorite restaurant here in West Palm and tonight we sat upstairs in the bar at a table by an open window table overlooking the park. It was like having a front row seat for the concert and we enjoyed the music while eating a light dinner. We each had a Mahi-Mahi taco and then head back to Windbird. We really splurged and used a great deal of our monthly internet allotment to watch the Democratic debate held at the University of New Hampshire. It was a good debate and now we are exhausted and headed to bed. Activities will be continued tomorrow.
by Judy Handley | Feb 3, 2016 | Sailing Logs Year 11 |
Day 104, Year 11: We’re Back
Date: Wednesday, February 3, 2016
Weather: Partly Cloudy and Warm, High Temp in the 80’s
Location: Back Aboard Windbird, West Palm Beach City Anchorage, FL
We’re back aboard Windbird in West Palm Beach after five days of visiting with family on Florida’s Gulf Coast. We had a wonderful, relaxed few days with Mark’s brother, sisters, brother-in-law, and nieces and nephews. We are so appreciative and Lee Kaufman on Sea Turtle agreed to look after Windbird while we were gone. But last night I dreamed a boater’s nightmare where Windbird kept breaking free from anchorages. That told me it was time to come home. Mary Ellen and Lee were serving food in a soup kitchen today, so we didn’t start the trip back until almost 2 pm. Mark and I spent our morning making arrangements for Mark to return to Boston for a check-in with his oncologist. The stomach issue he has been having has gotten worse, so Dr. Kwak wants him back in Boston for a couple of days to check things out. I will stay here with Windbird. We have the appointments but haven’t scheduled the flights as yet. But it looks like Mark will fly out a week from Saturday or Sunday (Feb 13th or 14th) and return the following Wednesday or Thursday (Feb 17th or 18th). He told me his Valentine’s gift to me was giving me a few days alone. I’m not going for that as a ‘gift’, so he’s going to have to come up with something else!
We had to return without Steve’s outboard as it is still in for repairs. And our Yamaha is still in the shop as well. Hopefully we’ll get the Yamaha back early next week and can give it a good workout before Mark leaves. I don’t mind rowing when I know I can make a phone call if I run into trouble, but it would be nice to have the outboard while Mark is gone and there is no one to call. Lee and Lynda on Sea Turtle are stuck here for now as their dinghy outboard is in for repairs as well. This is like a replay of last season when we both arrived in Florida with dinghy outboards that wouldn’t start. Hopefully all will be resolved in a few days.
Tomorrow we are going back to Boynton Beach to spend the afternoon with Brad and Sue and my niece Lynn who is down visiting from Boston. It is rare that we get to visit Lynn while we are up north, so we’re taking advantage of visiting while she is here.
