Day 108, Year 10: Prep for the Trip to Florida’s West Coast
Date: Monday, January 26, 2015
Weather: Sunny and Beautiful with a Mid-Day Squall; Temp Low-70’s F
Location: Anchored in Lake Sylvia, Fort Lauderdale, FL
In my mind, our winter cruise is divided into six phases. Phase I was getting from Cape Cod to South Carolina. Phase 2 was the jaunt from South Carolina to the East Coast of Florida. On Thursday we leave Fort Lauderdale for Coconut Grove in Biscayne Bay (south Miami) and that will begin Phase 3—the cruise from the East Coast of Florida to the West Coast and back. Phase 4 will be our trip to the Bahamas, Phase 5 will take us back to South Carolina, and then Phase 6 will get us back to Cape Cod. But right now, we are focused on the trip to the West Coast. Mark is pouring through the Southern Waterway Guide tonight to remind himself of possible anchorages along the way so he can plot our routes into the navigation program. While he has been doing that, I have mapped out tomorrow’s shopping stops and am working on menus for the next couple of weeks. New Hampshire friends, Alan and Helaine Kanegsberg, will be joining us on Sunday and they will be with us until we reach Fort Myers on the West Coast of Florida. And as soon as we return from the West Coast, more New Hampshire friends are coming to visit. Tom and Detta Porat will spend three days with us just before we head to the Bahamas. So while we are here in Fort Lauderdale with a car, we are trying to buy enough food to feed all of us for the next few weeks.
Mark, Lee, Lynda, and I did the first of the food shopping trips today. Today’s focus was the general supermarket. Tomorrow after Mark’s doctor appointment, we will make stops at Costco for some bulk items and Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods for some specialty items. I need seaweed fertilizer for my little herb garden in the cockpit, so we will also make a stop at Home Depot. It will be a full afternoon of shopping and then we will basically be ready to leave Fort Lauderdale. Mark has a treatment on Wednesday and afterwards we will return Ed and Lynne’s car, take the bus back to Las Olas Marina to do the last laundry, and then head back to Windbird in the dinghy to batten down the hatches for Thursday’s sail to Biscayne Bay. It has been windy for the past couple of days and will continue that way until Thursday. So our jaunt to Biscayne Bay could be a little rambunctious. The alternative is to wait until Friday when the wind calms a bit but will be directly behind us requiring us to motor. We’ve had that scenario for most of the trip from South Carolina to here, so we’re hoping for a bit of a fun sail on Thursday.
