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.

160205 Day 106 Florida, USA–Dinner with Sea Turtle and Journey, Swings in Downtown WPB

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.

160204 Day 105 Florida, USA–Visit with Brad and Sue; Clematis by Night

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.

Day 103, Year 11: Extending Our Stay in Bonita
Date: Tuesday, February 2, 2016
Weather: Partly Cloudy and Warm, High Temp in the 80’s
Location: At Home with Mary Ellen and Lee French, Bonita Springs, FL

We are still here in Bonita Springs. Steve’s engine is still in the shop (the one we hope to take back with us), so we decided to stay one more day. We had to call Lee Kaufman on Sea Turtle and ask him to go over to Windbird to run the engine to charge the batteries. We have to keep that freezer full of food going. So thank you, Lee. We had a bit of a lazy day, visited with Mark’s two sisters and one nephew tonight, and ended our evening in the hot tub with Lee. The hot water and water jets felt great. We will probably return to West Palm tomorrow. But then again, we could decide to stay just one more day. We have had a wonderful visit with Mark’s family and are finding it hard to pull ourselves away.

160202 Day 103 Florida, USA–Hot Tub Heaven

Day 102, Year 11: Enjoying the First Day of February
Date: Monday, February 1, 2016
Weather: Mostly Sunny and Hot, High Temp in the 80’s
Location: At Home with Mary Ellen and Lee French, Bonita Springs, FL

We had a lovely first day of February. It was mostly sunny and very warm . . . well, actually hot with the high temp in the 90’s. Lee and Mary Ellen drove us to the TD Bank on 5th Avenue in Naples. That is ‘the’ street in Naples and the TD Bank was quite lovely. Then we drove a bit further south to Naples Outfitters. They have Chacos sandals and I was hoping to buy a pair. But they didn’t have wides, so I’ll have to order. But at least I did get to try on the sandals and found the size I need. Then we drove back to a fancy schmancy shopping area called Mercado and had lunch at AZN. The weather was perfect so eating outside was delightful and the food was excellent. This evening Mark’s sister Jeanie came over and shared her photos from her recent trip to Paris and Prague with us. The trip before this one was to Rome and she also showed us photos from that trip. Both she and Mary Ellen and Lee have been to Rome and they really think that Mark and I should go there. Tonight they got so far as to have Mark looking up flights for this May. Who knows? We might be in Rome in May. Mary Ellen and Lee’s son Danny came over for dinner with his boys, Daniel and Noah. Just after we finished dinner, Heather called to see if we would like to Skype with her boys. We had talked to her earlier in the day to arrange this and we had a delightful call. Sam and Jonah were home sick from school today with colds, but by this evening they were feeling a bit better. And Ollie was his jolly self, demonstrating all of the yoga poses he knows. We sure miss our grandbabies. Hopefully we will be able to arrange a Skype call with Justin and his crew in the next few days as well.

160201 Day 102 Florida, USA–Trip to Naples, Dinner with Family

Tomorrow we will head back to West Palm Beach. Lee and Mary Ellen will drive us to Alva to Steve’s place where we hope to pick up his Johnson outboard that was in for repairs today. Hopefully we can have lunch with Steve before heading on across the state. We’ve had a wonderful time here with Mark’s family and are so grateful to Lynda and Lee Kaufman for watching over Windbird. But we are anxious to get back and get ourselves into some sort of daily routine. Probably won’t happen, but we can try.

Day 101, Year 11: Alva to Bonita Springs
Date: Sunday, January 31, 2016
Weather: Mostly Cloudy, Warm Enough
Location: At Home with Mary Ellen and Lee French, Bonita Springs, FL

Early this morning, Steve, Mark, and I drove from Alva, north and east of Fort Myers, south to Bonita Springs where Mary Ellen and Lee live. And we had a wonderful day with Mark’s family. Mark’s sister, Mary Ellen, and her husband Lee had a fantastic breakfast waiting for when we arrived. And after breakfast, Steve, Mary Ellen, and I went to an art show in old town Bonita. In the early afternoon, Mark’s other sister, Jeanie, and her significant other, Tom, arrived. Then all of us except Mary Ellen and Lee drove south to Naples to check on the progress of multi-million dollar home Steve designed. We saw it last year when the walls were just beginning to go up. Today the basic structure of the house is completed and it is quite a house. This is probably the largest and most expensive home Steve has ever designed and it is really overwhelming. The foyer alone is 30 feet wide. Mark noted that Windbird would fit neatly in the second floor master bedroom and bath.

160131 Day 101a Florida, USA–Visit to Home Steve Designed

After our tour of this home, we went to one of the high schools in Naples to see Steve’s granddaughter compete in a volleyball tournament. We saw both of Steve’s daughters and really enjoy watching Katie play. She has a killer serve which won the second of the two games we watched.

160131 Day 101b Florida, USA–Volleyball

Then we drove back to Mary Ellen and Lee’s to visit with their son Danny and his significant other, Linda. Lee grilled steaks to perfection and we had salad and baked potatoes to go with the steaks. It was a fantastic meal and a great way to end the day. We will be here until Tuesday morning when we will head back to West Palm Beach.

160131 Day 101c Florida, USA–Family Dinner at Mary Ellen and Lee's

Day 100, Year 11: Across to the Gulf Coast (by car)
Date: Saturday, January 30, 2016
Weather: Partly Sunny and a Little Warmer
Location: Visiting with Mark’s Brother Steve in Alva, FL

This morning Mark’s brother, Steve, drove to West Palm Beach and whisked us away to Florida’s Gulf Coast to visit with family for a few days. Lee and Lynda Kaufman on Sea Turtle arrived just minutes before we left and we didn’t get to talk to them face to face—only on the radio and via cell phone. But they will be in West Palm Beach for at least a couple of days and keep an eye on Windbird while we are visiting with Mark’s family. It is a great relief to not have to worry about the boat while we are gone, so thank you Lynda and Lee.

We drove back to Alva where Steve lives and entered what I call the “enchanted land” where he lives. Although it is no longer marina, Rialto is truly a lovely place. We had lunch aboard Steve’s trawler and then Mark and Steve spent the rest of the afternoon working on one of Steve’s old Johnson outboards. The one they were working on Steve would live to give to us to keep onboard Windbird in case our other dinghy outboard fails again at some point. Unfortunately they were not successful in getting the motor started, but hopefully it is just a clogged carburetor. Steve is going to take the motor to a repair shop on Monday in hopes they can get it started. We are now thinking that we will not return to West Palm Beach until Tuesday, hopefully with the Johnson outboard.

While Mark and Steve worked on the outboard, I sat on the dock and read. And when it got too buggy and chilly, I went into the guest house and read on the leather sofa. It was so comfy that I decided that if I ever live in a house again, I must have an old leather sofa. When Mark and Steve came in from working on the motor, we sat around and talked, had dinner, and then talked some more. Tomorrow we will drive about an hour south to visit with Mark’s sisters who live in Bonita Springs. We will get up early and drive down to have breakfast with Mary Ellen and Lee. In the afternoon we will go to Naples to see Steve’s granddaughter play in a volley ball tournament and while there we will get to see more of the family. We will then stay in Bonita Springs until we return to West Palm on Tuesday.

160130 Day 100 Florida, USA–Visit with Mark's Brother, Steve

Day 99, Year 11: Visit with Brad and Sue in Boynton Beach
Date: Friday, January 29, 2016
Weather: Mostly Cloudy and Cool
Location: Anchored in the West Palm Beach City Anchorage, FL

It was mostly cloudy and cool today, but hey, we finally got off the boat for the day. We have been on Windbird since we left Little River nine days ago except for a short foray yesterday morning to take our dinghy outboard ashore. So we were so delighted that Brad and Sue invited us to come visit today, have lunch, and do some laundry. And while there, we were able to pick up a letter sent to us by Ollie and our new FoodSaver vacuum sealer arrived. I always write that Sue is my sister-in-law and often people ask me why I don’t say Brad is my brother. Sue was married to my brother Bennie until he died at age 33, leaving her with my two nieces and one nephew. Sue met Brad after my brother’s death and they have now been married for 50 years! In all of our travels over the past couple of months, I totally missed that December 3rd was their 50th anniversary. So a very happy, although belated, 50th anniversary to Brad and Sue! And a very hearty thank you for transporting us to and from Boynton Beach today (including a stop at a West Marine in Delray Beach), letting us do our laundry at their house, and feeding us a fantastic lunch. They are such a happy, upbeat couple, and look great for a couple of ‘gray hairs’. Since we are going to be around here for the next two weeks, we are invited to return next week to have dinner when my niece Lynn is visiting from Boston. So we’ll look forward to a return visit. When they picked us up today they drove a little south of Boynton Beach to take us to West Marine to buy a couple of small boat items. We then drove up the coast to Boynton Beach where they live and made a stop at the public beach. It is really a very nice facility. Then we drove to the inlet leading from the ocean into the Intracoastal. There is a fixed bridge that would not allow Windbird to enter there, but we enjoyed seeing the area.

While at Brad and Sue’s we got a phone call from A Mechanic on Wheels about our dinghy outboard. The news was mixed, but the good thing is that the motor can be repaired at a cost considerably less than a new motor. The crankshaft and bearings are actually fine, but the seals and water pump are not. Parts have to be ordered, so we are not sure when we will have it back. But in the meantime, we are fine here without a motor. Rowing to the dock is a short distance and for that we are very grateful. Also while we were at Brad and Sue’s, our new FoodSaver vacuum sealer arrived. When we got home we vacuum packed all of the granola that I made in December and early January. I’m happy to report that it works great.

Lee and Lynda on Sea Turtle will arrive here tomorrow morning. They have agreed to look after Windbird in our absence. And soon after they arrive, Mark’s brother will pick us up and take us across the state to the Gulf Coast. Steve lives just north and west of Fort Myers and we will stay at his ‘estate’ tomorrow night. Actually Steve lives on a trawler that is docked at what used to be Rialto Marina on the Caloosahatchee River. Rialto is no longer a marina, but it is an absolutely lovely riverfront property. On Sunday we will drive south of Fort Myers to visit with Mark’s sisters who live in Bonita Springs. We will return here on Monday or Tuesday. Thankfully the cold front has moved out into the Atlantic, so for the next few days we should have daytime temps in the 70’s with lows in the 60’s. Maybe I can shed this sweater that I wore today!

160129 Day 99 Florida, USA–Boynton Beach Visit; New FoodSaver

Day 98, Year 11: Be Careful What You Wish For
Date: Thursday, January 28, 2016
Weather: Still Overcast and Still Rainy
Location: Anchored in the West Palm Beach City Anchorage, FL

Be careful what you wish for. In last night’s log I said that we had really hoped to just sit here for at least a week and it looks like that is going to happen. In fact, we’ll probably be here for as long as we are allowed to stay. A few things happened today that changed our plans for heading to the Bahamas. That trip is now on hold. There was a break in the rain overnight and in the early morning, so the dinghy motor repair guy called and wanted to pick the motor up today. We got it to shore and by noon we found out that it is not going to be a cheap fix, if it can be repaired at all. So we have to deal with that as you certainly can’t head to the Bahamas without transportation to shore. So that was one set-back. Then Mark got an email inviting him to do another consulting job between now and the first of March. Since we were suddenly looking at an expensive repair bill for our dinghy motor, that certainly sounded invited. But Mark has to have ready access to cell service to do this, and we wouldn’t have that in the Bahamas. Add to that the pressure the weather was putting on Mark when he still has a cold and still has some stomach issues, and leaving for the Bahamas on Tuesday starting sounding like a really bad idea. So we have changed our plans. To what, I’m not sure, but we will stay in Florida through the month of February and figure out if going to the Bahamas in March might be a possibility. But for now, we’re just going to stay put and deal with the issues at hand.

Now for the dinghy motor story . . . t repair man first called to tell us that we needed a new crankshaft to the tune of $1,000. Mark then suggested a few other things for the guy to try. When we talked to him late this afternoon, he still was not successful in getting the motor to start. He thinks that the main bearings in the crankshaft are frozen, but he can’t know that for sure without taking it apart which will cost $150 on top of the $100 we owe him from today. If replacing the bearings will do it, then we will ‘only’ owe him $700. We told him to go ahead and find out if replacing the bearings will do it, but we’re not sure it is worth having this done. This guy says it is a shame to just trash this engine, and we agree, so we’ll hope that replacing the bearings will do the trick. If not, we have to buy a new motor or find a used one. Mark talked to his brother today and he has a couple of old Johnson 15 hp motors just sitting around. Since we are going to Steve’s on Saturday, we’ll definitely take a look at those.

We are going ahead with our plans to visit with family. We were in the ‘hurry up’ mode to see them since we thought we were leaving early next week, so we made those plans. Tomorrow Brad and Sue (my sister-in-law) will come pick us up and take us to their house in Boynton Beach for the day. Then on Saturday morning Mark’s brother will pick us up and take us over to the Gulf Coast. We’ll then return here either on Monday or Tuesday and start sitting still and relaxing!

Day 97, Year 11: All About the Weather
Date: Wednesday, January 27, 2016
Weather: Overcast and Rainy
Location: Anchored in West Palm Beach City Anchorage

Whether experiencing it or reading about it, today was all about the weather. We woke up to an overcast, rainy morning, but soon the sky opened up and the rain was pounding down. About that time, we got a radar alert on Mark’s phone. He took a peak and saw that it wasn’t just a rain or flood warning, it was a ‘possible’ tornado headed our way. The last time we saw this kind of warning on Mark’s phone, a few seconds later Windbird was hit by a micro-burst and drug across Quissett Harbor. So we don’t take these warnings lightly. But since there is no place to go when you are on a boat, we just watched the radar and hoped the ‘possible’ tornado didn’t get this far north. It didn’t and we were greatly relieved when the warning time ended. I did see a report on the internet that said a ‘possible’ tornado hit in the Fort Lauderdale area this morning, flipping cars over, ripping off hoods of cars, and generally causing havoc. Like the ‘whatever’ that hit our boat this summer, the weather folks are hesitant to call these events full-fledged tornadoes. They just say ‘possible’ tornadoes. But whatever they are, I’d like them to go away! Heavy rain continued off and on all day and filled the dinghy with water. I also put buckets on the deck, and we now have overflowing five-gallon buckets of water. The rain is supposed to go on through tomorrow, so we continue to be held hostage by the weather. We haven’t been off the boat since we left Little River, but for sure on Friday morning we will make it to shore. We have someone coming to get our dinghy motor for repairs at 9am on Friday and then my sister-in-law Sue and her husband Brad are driving up from Boynton Beach to take us to their house to visit for the day. We are looking forward to walking on land and to visiting with Brad and Sue.

The dinghy motor . . . this is the same motor that was submerged during our “weather event” in June. The Boat Guy on Cape Cod finally got it running. We used it for the rest of the summer and it was great. But it hasn’t been run since we left Cape Cod in late October and Mark cannot get the pull-start working. So we called A Mechanic on Wheels here in West Palm Beach and he is going to come to the dock on Friday morning to pick it us. He says he will return it on Monday and that is good as we are planning to leave here on Tuesday. Hopefully he will be able to get it running. If not, plans will have to be adjusted.

And speaking of plans, we just spent the entire day looking at weather information and learning more about the northern group of islands in the Bahamas, the Abacos. When we left Cape Cod, we assumed we would be returning to the Exumas again this year. But in the past few days, we have been thinking that it would be much easier to go to the Abacos. For one, you can leave from here and not have to travel further south in Florida before crossing. And it will make for a much easier return. If the weather was just right, we could leave the Abacos, hop out into the Gulf Stream, and be back in Little River in 4-5 days. And if not Little River, we could easily make it back to Fernandina Beach. So we spent the day comparing the long term forecasts for Florida versus the Abacos versus the Exumas. And the forecast for February looks a bit dismal for all. We knew that this strong El Nino was supposed to result in drier and warmer weather in the northeast this winter and wetter and cooler weather in the southeast. And it looks like that prediction for the southeast, or at least for Florida, might be accurate. Actually, the forecast is probably not all that dismal. I think we are just tired of looking at weather information. But it really does look like we need to leave here this coming Tuesday, February 2, or wait until after the middle of the month. We had really hoped to just sit here for at least a week, but it doesn’t look like that will happen. Since we have to return to the mainland to get Mark to Boston before the end of March, we figure we had better go now while there is a window. Maybe, just maybe, once we reach our destination in the Bahamas we are going to get to sit still and just relax for a few days. Now we just have to make a final decision on just where in the Bahamas we will go.

We might not know exactly where we are going, but we did make one decision today. Since we will probably be leaving Florida on Tuesday, we will visit with Mark’s family on the Gulf Coast this weekend. Mark’s brother will come pick us up on Saturday and his sister will drive us back on Monday. Luckily, Lynda and Lee Kaufman on Sea Turtle plan to arrive here in West Palm Beach on Friday and they have agreed to watch over Windbird in our absence. Thanks, Lynda and Lee!