takin' care of business

After a slow start this morning, we got ourselves busy taking care of business.  Donnie helped Danny with two electrical issues on Biddi and the Beast.  His radar is up and running, and he has power to his computer at the helm again.  From there, he tackled the VHF radio on Marquesa.  Peter helped him with getting it connected when they visited Banana Bay, yet Donnie really needed to go to school on how it all works.  I got our membership and tow insurance renewed with Boats US, and from there, Donnie got the AIS registered for the VHF.   Now we want to purchase and replace our antennae on our mast. We're taking steps in the right direction to go cruising.  Speaking of...

We are now on to about Plan D for cruising yet this season.  I really wanted to get us back to the Bahamas. We got our registration with Customs, and Willis got his traveling papers to go overseas, too.  However, the fact of the matter is three-fold.  For starters, I have broken toes that are not healing well.  Cruising the Bahamas is lots of in and out of the dinghy to go to shore, and lots and lots of walking and hiking once you get on land.  I just don't think I am up for it at all.  Secondly, our son, Michael is graduating from law school, and our daughter, Emily, is graduating from AU- both on May 11th.  I'm not sure how we will work out being in two places at once, but we cannot afford to get stuck abroad and miss out on these two important accomplishments.  Going across the Gulfstream is always iffy, and you are truly at the mercy of the wind and weather.  If you remember, last year we were stuck in Nassau for five days waiting for a weather window to cross.  We finally hopped off and headed across, only to catch up to the storm we had been waiting out!  Marquesa handled it just fine, and we handled it just fine, but it could have been far worse.

So, back to Plan D (or E, or possibly F, as I've lost track).  We are thinking now of just cruising up the west coast of Florida.  We could cross the Gulf of Mexico at an angle, and hit Marco Island.  From there, we could island hop our way north.  I haven't been to Sannibel Island since I was a kid, and I love to go shellin' on the beach.  We already have the charts and cruising guide for all of Florida, so we'd likely get as far north as Tampa Bay before we'd hop off again for passage back to Marathon.  If the weather is too poorly to do an open water crossing, we could follow the ICW down the western side of Florida.  For today, that is the latest plan.  At any rate, we plan to be back in IN the first week of May. 

Today, I started provisioning to go cruising.  Biddi and I ran some errands together this afternoon.  I also got the Jeep washed and swept out for our trip to Georgia this weekend.  Our daughter, Carissa, is now safely out of "the armpit of the Earth" and is on her way back to the States.  She will be here briefly, at Ft. Benning, GA, before she is processed back to her base in Ramstein, Germany.  This little window of opportunity is the biggest reason we are not going to the Bahamas this year.  Family is far more important- the islands will always be there (we hope!)  She has just given up nearly eight months of her life in service to our country...we are so proud of her, and so happy that she is now back in safe territory once again...we just want to go see her and love on her, even if it's only for two days.  Besides, if we were going to the Bahamas, we would have already left by now, when many of the other boaters here casted off the docks.  So, that is that.

Tonight, Gary Bush was leading open mike nite at Salty's. 

They were just "Three Sheets to the Wind" as Dan and Penny leave for home first thing in the morning.

The boys did a good job, but I missed Dan and Penny on bass and harmonica.

So, for now we are in for the night.  We are supposed to get some big thunderstorms and winds tonight and tomorrow.  Today it was 91 with nearly 90% humidity.  Thank God the air conditioning works well on Marquesa!  Cap'n put out extra lines and fenders earlier today so we are prepared if the wind strikes.  Actually, it just started raining, as I hear it on the deck.  It's still so humid though, it  could just be that the skies are weeping.  At any rate, I will NOT be going up the mast tomorrow to connect a new antennae.  That would be like holding an umbrella on a golf course, only worse!  I am excited to get our new dinghy tomorrow, though.  It has been shipped and it's on its way :)  Tomorrow is laundry and packing, and keeping an eye out on the weather, and doing some more planning for cruising Florida.  Until then, G'nite, y'all!