It’s Saturday, October 29, 2022, and Lynn and Guinness and I are down at the boat, locked and loaded, and ready to go. 

 

Here’s Guinness, chewing on a Reindeer…thinking about Key West.

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Iris (Lynn’s younger daughter) drove us down and dropped us off.  

All our repairs and refits are complete; we are fully provisioned; the fuel tanks and the water tank are topped off; and the waste tank is empty.

We leave on Wednesday morning.

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I’m not going to blog every day on this trip – the WIFI connections are simply too unreliable – particularly when we get to the Bahamas.  So when you visit our blog this year, click on the small “FOLLOW” button at the bottom right of any page.  You’ll get an email that we’ve posted a new entry.

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You may be wondering why we are waiting 4 days before we leave…no, it’s not so we can see the Phillies win the World Series on Tuesday night, although that WILL be exciting!  The truth is:

• We planned the trip so that we can spend Thanksgiving with Cathy’s family in Palmetto Bluff. Otherwise, you find yourself stuck at some God-forsaken marina in a God-forsaken town with no restaurant within walking distance.  (Hello Titusville).
• Then you just work backwards to a logical start date, allowing a few days for weather delays along the way.
• Working forward from Thanksgiving, it turns out that you arrive in Key West during the first week in December.  Perfect!
• But since Iris is working, she had to bring us down today.  No problem.  It is gorgeous fall weather, and we’ll do a few pleasure trips before we leave.

I’m actually quite impressed with the amount of gear we’ve been able to stow.  When I think back to what Guinness and I took two years ago, I reckon we have about 3 times as much for this trip:

• Having Lynn aboard doubles the clothing
• She has loaded 3x as much food as I had (I rarely cooked).
• Plus hair driers, manicure supplies, vitamins, and other lotions and potions.
• Plus Pickleball gear – she plans to play every day in Key West.

And I am OK with it all.  I still have the same space I had on the last trip.  Somehow, Lynn  managed to fit everything else on board without imposing on my space!  Miraculous!

As a consequence, I’m finding myself in a peaceful, poetic kind of mood…

Perhaps… “There is a tide in the affairs of men.  Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.”

[Shakespeare – Julius Caesar]

Or maybe… ”Once more into the breach, dear friends!”  [Shakespeare – Henry V]

Or maybe simply…”On the road again”  [Willie Nelson]

Anyway, after months of planning and preparations, we are ready to go!  

Tonight, we’ll have a quiet meal aboard and try to stay awake for the Phillies.  Maybe it won’t be such a nail-biter with Wheeler on the mound.

TTFN