A Birthday Wish

Here’s to a great woman, my mother in law, who has a heart of gold and a smile like sunshine.  I’ve known “Mom” for over 30 years now.  I can remember the first time we met.  She was visiting Rob just after we started to date and I walked in to his place and there was this striking woman in the kitchen.  Rob had always described her as “hot”.

I can remember being intimidated by this strong soul in the beginning but over the years we’ve become incredibly close and she is near and dear to my heart.  Here is a woman who was married for 62 years to a man with triple the determination of my own Rob . . . she was obviously the glue that held together a family of strong personalities with undying commitment.

She always managed to proceed with style and grace.   A heart of gold, she has shown unlimited generosity over the years and can be counted on no matter what.  She gives herself selflessly to her family, her church and her commitments.

So, Mom, Happy Birthday.  I can’t remember the last time we were not with you to celebrate so this is particularly hard.  Just know – you are no further away than my thoughts and I’m sending wishes for a beautiful day and a year of the same. 

With that, I pass the baton to Rob to add his thoughts . . .

To You, Mom, Because you . . . 

Brought me into this world,

Read me my first book,

Took me to my first day at school,

Wore your leopard stole to my parent teacher conference.

Gave me my first shaving kit,

Let me cut the milk box into a boat,

Didn’t get mad when the parakeets flew away,

Let me drive the bulldozer with Tom.

Watched us build the tree fort,

Smiled at the daffodils I picked for you,

Offered protection when Dad was mad,

Told me everything would be okay.

Sent me to college – with spending money!

Answered the phone when I called from jail,

Told me it was time to grow up.

Came to help patch up my broken wrist,

Provided more than I deserved – from housing to cars to even a boat.

Conveniently forgot about money I owed.

Always were there when I needed you – and still are!

You have far more qualities than I could ever describe –

Happy Birthday, Mom.  You are the best in the world!

With love from Rob

On a Lighter Note

Today began with another beautiful sunrise through the port as I lifted my head.  How can you not appreciate something so magnificent welcoming you into each new day? After the bad news and bad mood of yesterday, I was determined that today would be a return to our thankful and appreciative lifestyle . . .

I had a lot to be excited about.  Any of you who know anything about me knows that I am an avid dragon boat paddler.  I joined Dragon Boat Charleston soon after my cancer diagnosis in 2006.  It has been a lifesaver in so many ways but, first and foremost, the camaraderie and support of each of the team and club members truly changed my life not to mention that the sport is a blast! 

So when I arrived in Marathon this past week and heard that there was a local dragon boat club that paddled every Sunday, I signed up immediately!  And today’s SUNDAY!  We got up and performed the usual routine getting to shore for my meeting with the carpool at 9am.  The drive with the other paddlers for the day took about half an hour and we arrived at a really neat little place on a canal off of Newfound Harbor around the area where Rob and I anchored on our journey from Key West that we thought was so great!

Now in Charleston we almost always have at least 12 people on the boat that holds 20 or we downsize to the smaller version, the Dragonfly.  With only six of us paddling, I was surprised that this hearty group didn’t even flinch but grabbed their gear and we headed out.  (I was thinking others would be joining us!  HA!)  Also in Charleston we begin our workout with a warmup of somewhere between 2 and 10 minutes depending on where we are in the training cycle.  OH, not in the KEYS!!!  This crazy group of nothing less than cheerful folks headed out for what ended up being an entire hour of paddling with only 6 on a 20 person boat!  The only break they took was after about ½ hour when a couples minutes of chit chat pursued before cranking it back up to full throttle.  You Go Team!!!

And another great moment in this adventure is logged.  I’m so thankful to my new paddling friends for allowing me to join in and I hope to not only paddle with them again before we journey on but that they will join us in Charleston – they certainly have earned there spot on any boat I’m on!

A Little TOO Normal . . .



The most significant element of change since our arrival is the number of people we've met.  We've met more fun folks in the past three days here than we had in the 6 weeks prior . . . right off the bat we met Robin and her husband and their son Daniel.  There's Jim and Linda from Texas who we did meet in Key West but are now here and their friends Bob and Georgette.  There's John and Penny who were actually moored next to us several days in Key West but we never met then.  Add Ian and Lynn from Canada, Pete and Cindy, AJ and Lisa . . . it goes on.  And it's nice.

We've been able to keep busy having fun just exploring the area and doing what the Marina has to offer.  From the pot luck Meet and Greet to yoga in the morning and wandering up Highway 1 to see what's out there, keeping busy has been a cinch.  And when there's not something going on, someone's always got another diversion from fishing to going to the nearby beach.

It's good to be here, a much needed break and change from Key West to recharge the batteries, so to speak.  I can't help but feel a little too "normal".   There's more of a routine that's returned and the lonliness is gone (thankfully) and I even have done some spontaneous entertaining just like at home.  The thing that keeps coming to mind is that this is such a nice break but I'm glad it's that and not the destination.  It's a lot easier to write when the winds have mounted, the boat loses it's anchorage and all hell breaks lose . . . that's when there's something to write about!

Okay, just for a bit of excitement, we DID have a powerless sailboat drift through the anchorage the other night during some wind in the area.  He had five dinghys flanking him on all sides that served as his engine and they were trying to get him back into a spot to drop an anchor again.  This all floated by after 11pm the other night and then this wild bunch finally set the anchor after about 6 attempts - right upwind from US!  So that was a sleepless night waiting for the next chapter . . . which thankfully didn't happen.

Yesterday they placed us on a mooring ball after we returned from an exquisite day at the beach with swimming and sunning and good company.  And we're safely and securely not having to worry about a thing from this point forward . . . and I'm missing the unknown already!

Another World

The change is surreal.  No, really – I thought I had stepped into another universe.  The day started out with contrary winds and rain, totally unpredicted weather although we’ve come to expect that.  We waited until the worst of it passed before weighing anchor and heading back out.

The winds allowed us to raise the sails early and we headed out to the reef to tack back straight toward our destination of Marathon.  The seas were much higher than expected with the overnight weather just passing through so we sailed with a rail in the water and waves washing over the bow for the first few hours.  The winds didn’t stay favorable, however, and we finally gave up the fight and turned on the engine once again which meant watching for crab traps threatening to wrap the prop. The last few hours were a grueling game of watch and adjust course.

We were exhausted when we arrived.  We had expected to get a mooring in Marathon but they said they were totally booked and had a waiting list of 15 boats and to set an anchor and check in the Marina office when we arrived.  So we motored up the entrance to the harbor to find more sailboats than I’ve ever seen in one location moored and anchored in every direction!  We dropped the anchor the first place we saw and headed to the office as we were told.

So this is where “the moment” happened.  We dinghyed in to find several sets of dinghy docks (remember our Key West experience!) all well maintained with cleats every few feet to accommodate individual dinghys.  Then there’s this big warehouse style building with what can only be described as a sailor’s lounge – with two tv rooms, a bank of tables for computer to plug in, numerous tables for general use, a long wall with endless full bookshelves and a mail station . . .  Toto, we’re definitely not in Kansas any more!  

And it didn’t end there – just beyond this “lounge” is a very large work area for people’s boat projects and then another large building housing the laundry, bathrooms and showers.  Up front is a “tiki” hut and picnic area as well.  That’s just the facilities, mind you.  The services include a twice daily radio call in program called “cruisers net” where anyone in the harbor can tune in find out who’s new, who’s leaving, what’s happening for the day, who’s got what for sale and more.  There’s a board to “buddy” up with others going to the Bahamas . . .  add to that yoga and aerobics classes (free?!), movie night, meet and greet night, pot luck and music jam session night . . . is this for real?! 

The answer is a definite “yes”!  When night fell, the anchor lights looked like stars that had fallen right into the anchorage and we were greeted this morning with a  rainbow crossing the sky.  After our first full day in the anchorage I can say that, although the whole experience can be viewed as a bit “suburban”, it’s really quite wonderful being around so many friendly faces all of whom understand this quirky life we’ve chosen to lead.   

So a new chapter begins – where it will lead is anyone’s guess.  

Making Magic

Final night in Key West

After a really great night out last night we woke early and prepared the boat, getting underway by 9am.  The wind was light but still available and the sky was clear and blue.  The weather forecast was wrong again regarding the wind direction and such but really, who’s counting on that anymore?!

There really isn’t much to tell about the day’s adventure although I did take a few pictures of the crab traps we played “chess” with in open water as well as the Sargasso weed growing in fields along the way which wreaked havoc on Rob’s fishing line.

Crab Trap AND Sargasso . . .

We made reasonable time and worked our way into the planned anchorage for the night about 3 in the afternoon.  During our approach we were treated to a sea plane taking off right over our boat which was a new experience.  Unfortunately, the moving target was hard to capture on film – but you get the idea.

The approach to the anchorage had our depth gauge going berserk showing we were in less than 4 feet of water when our boat depth is 5’6”!  The alarm was going off constantly and all I could do was trust the chart and the instruments that said we should have enough depth to continue.  Obviously there is an offset on the depth gauge that will need to be adjusted but it did provide for some excitement along the way.

We anchored safely in a beautiful harbor – Newfound Harbor to be exact if you’re looking it up – where there are only two other boats anchored within sight, one of which is unoccupied.   We enjoyed another amazing sunset which is a never tiring activity each day and had a simple dinner followed by a competitive Scrabble game which Rob won by 2 points!

But the magic came as we were winding down getting ready for bed and I looked out the cockpit to the sky.  The moon is new so there’s no natural or manmade light distraction and the sky was lit up like Christmas.  I was awestruck.  I grabbed two cushions and two pillows and ROB and we climbed on top of the cockpit enclosure to view the night sky.



Find your Magic!

MAGIC.  Just magic.  There’s really not much more that can be said about it.  Perfection so easy to find and eternity of space and time to ponder . . . it really is quite overwhelming.  The thought comes to mind that life really is just that simple.  Look at the stars.  Feel the breeze.  Bask in the sun.  Appreciate a child, a friend, a laugh . . . 

 And say a thank you for this grand adventure called life!

Far Away From Home

This blog finds us on the tail end of our stay in Key West as we plan to head back to more northern latitudes tomorrow. The sun has been shining, the winds fair and the water relatively calm.  AHHH.   

We’ve been doing things like visiting our favorite spots, taking care of some business and seeing the last things there are to see here.  We had an appointment with Customs and Border Patrol to get our Local Boaters Option card that gives reentry into Florida ports with just a phone call instead of checking in with immigration every time.  Fingerprinted and photographed . . . we are officially recorded.

We spent some time on the beach, watching the last of the sailboat races that have been going on all week.  What a  great sight with hundreds of sailboats on the horizon making their way in packs through the courses, not to mention just enjoying the beach and the sun.

Rob enjoyed another sandwich from the Old Town Bakery while I tried a caramelized onion baguette (you would not believe how really amazing this was!) from the Caribbean place across the street called Paseo.  With some kind of tapenade, big slices of caramelized onions and pickled jalapenos on a most deliciously fresh baguette – this thing was magical!  

Then, after going on two months away from home, we had the only two couples we’ve met here aboard for a BBQ last night.  Anyone who knows me understands that I love to cook and entertain and this was the first real occasion in a while.  I was so excited!  So I puttered happily in the galley doing what I do and prepared for the evening which turned out to be nothing like what I’m used to.  There’s no way to describe delicately the nuances of the evening, suffice it to say I’m now even more than ready to move on.

To finish the evening, we headed to the showers onshore about 11pm to find them closed and then were stopped by the Coast Guard for a “safety check” on the way back being given a citation for having no flares aboard – something not required in our home port.   Who’d have guessed?! 

So I’m feeling the absence of family and friends more than ever but just can’t seem to find the driving desire to return to “life as usual”.  So we head out tomorrow to see what else is in store for us on this crazy adventure.  Here’s to what’s ahead!

Our Best of Key West

Well, we’ve successfully moved back around Fleming Key and are once again anchored off Key West harbor with all that offers.  We were welcomed this morning bright sunshine and just the slightest breeze making our short passage that much more perfect.  We chose an entirely new spot for anchoring and have already met a few boat neighbors to hook up with this evening.  

Esther at the Post Office -
She's nicer than she looks!

The weather is looking about the same for the next five days and we’re beginning to plan the next leg of our adventure.  With that in mind, going into town takes on a new meaning and we’re tying up loose ends – checking in for mail at the post office and grabbing a few things we’d been looking at as well as making stops at our now favorite “haunts”.  It is with that that I will present to you our personal “best of Key West” . . .

We must begin with Ruben at West Marine.  This kind soul has approved our taking the store’s ladder overnight for a boat project, “ignored” our guests’ cars parked in their spaces, taken back our ill-fated anchor without question, lent a shopping cart for provision transfer and assisted with all sorts of other surprise requests.   Ruben and the rest of the Key West guys (Larry, Kevin, Deane and all)  THANKS, you’re the best!

A#1 daily coffee and goodie stop – Old Town Bakery – is a definite MUST.  Featuring fresh breads and soups and the most unbelievable bakery and pastries all made inhouse, these guys even know how to pull a good espresso shot!  Ginger white chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin cream cheese muffins, raspberry linzer bars to tomato brie soup and sandwiches made from hand sliced homemade breads . . . YUMMY!

Rob couldn’t have gotten through any day without his chocolate milk fix – a quart every afternoon from Fausto’s Gourmet Market.  This place is a gem with all the best in fresh meats and beautiful produce and right in town for when the 4 mile walk to the “big boy” store isn’t practical.

And finally, our redeeming local Irish Pub Finnegan’s Wake has been our home away from home with $5 burgers every night and $2 off Guinness . . . I can’t keep Rob away.  They make this “Beast of Bourbon” burger on a pretzel bun for $5 any night from 4 – 7 and Rob swears it’s the best burger he’s ever eaten.  When they ran out of the pretzel buns the other night, you’d have thought the sky fell!!!  And they have an amazing veggie burger for me that has hummus and avocado – who can resist?!


The real LOCALS . . .

Along with the ability to jump to the Marquesas, the most amazing sunsets, fun at Mallory Square, unending happy hour specials at hundreds of bars, great restaurants at every turn . . . all in all Key West has been a treat and we could ALMOST forget the challenges we’ve seen here!  So this evening is ½ price veg entrees at Finnegan’s (yeah for me) and then a bit of dancing and watching the Shot and Knot competition at Schooner Wharf bar – yup, you can imagine!  Happy to report it’s been a banner day.

How to Show Friends a Good Time . . .

I find myself yearning for a good night’s sleep.  After the drama of two nights before and the one night reprieve, Friday evening brought another big “blow” to town.  After an uneventful day of wandering and errands, we got ready for our liveaboard sailing friends from Charleston, David and Gretchen, to arrive.  

 
Arrive they did mid-afternoon just as the wind started to creep up.  They were gracious enough to have loaded their car with provisions for us from Costco and Trader Joe’s and we had our hands full trying to maneuver parking, unloading and transporting everything from their car to the dinghy and then to the boat.  Rob made the first trip solo as the wind started to build further. 

We all made it out to the boat without too much drama besides a few good splashes then headed right back out to hit Mallory Square for some entertainment at sunset.  We had a really great time with both Gretchen and Rob participating in different "shows" and then scooted back to Moonshadow to make an evening dinner aboard.  And the wind continued to build. 

Before long we were starting to watch boats shift once again as we ourselves closely watched the chart plotter to guarantee that our own hold was good.  We were holding just great when another boat let loose and worked their way entirely around us wrapping their anchor rope around our anchor chain while the wind and waves were whipping around.  You can imagine this is NOT what you want to have happen!  With some expert seamanship, the four of us on board worked together to release ourselves from our neighbor’s “lasso”.  Unfortunately, the other boat was not stable and we could not safely set the anchor again.

This is when we decided the only way to safely escape the worsening conditions was to round Fleming Island (once AGAIN) and try to get a mooring or anchor on the other side.   This meant navigating around the island in the dark and high winds – something I’ve never done willingly – especially after our last mooring run around the island. 

Arriving safely, it was Rob’s turn for heroics.  He got on the dinghy and went ahead to find us a safe mooring, planning on preparing the ball for us to approach and grab “on the go”.  This was no easy nor terribly safe feat but, between the four of us, we did a pretty impressive job of working the dinghy, lines and 44’ 36,000 pound vessel onto a floating plastic orb in the wave swept water and high winds some time after midnight.  We seriously considered “celebrating” our held position with shots of something lethal but opted for tea and made it to bed somewhere after 2am. 

And so ended the first of three much less exciting although more relaxing days together.  Welcome to visiting Moonshadow, David and Gretchen!   So . . . who's next?!

Just Wandering

Our new anchor #1 is now officially named Mr. Mark in honor of our dear Dragonboat friend we lost this week.  A faithful, reliable, strong and determined fighter – a perfect name for an lifesaving device.  And we are safely and soundly anchored in our “home” position once again. It was a good day to get off the boat and shake it off.  We spent the day wandering Key West’s “other” side.  We walked to the different beach areas and through the residential streets.  At the head of one beach pier is a beautifully done aids memorial that gave pause and the Key West cemetery is quite an historic and interesting place to wander. 

We found a great little botanical garden run by the Key West Garden Club that is free to the public and a great little sanctuary built on the site of an unfinished civil war fortification.

And just a ways further down the road was a wildlife refuge where all of the injured birds and other wildlife of the area are cared for.  Funny, where else but Key West would you find numerous cages designated for chicken refuge?!  The chickens of Key West are a mainstay here.  Apparently when a chicken becomes a nuisance, the refuge will assist in its capture and then care for it until a new “home” is found.  Why does this all sound crazy to me?!

I asked how they found “homes” for delinquent chickens . . . but that didn’t seem funny to them.  Ha!  Actually, they have numerous orange groves with a weevil problem that takes the birds to feed on the weevils.   A mutually beneficial arrangement – go figure.

And then we finally made it to Finnegan’s for happy hour Guinness and Rob’s new favorite burger while I feasted on the veggie format of the same.  New boat neighbor friends, Dennis and Wanda, joined us there and we spent the rest of the night otherwise unwinding from the night before.   A little drink, a little dance, a little friendship and a calm breeze . . . aaaahhhh.

Unexpected Event

Wednesday is half price vegetarian at our favorite Irish pub here.  Finnegan’s Wake puts out some great food.  Rob swears their “Beast of Bourbon” burger on a pretzel bun is the best burger EVER.  I’ve been drooling over the veg menu for a couple weeks now and waiting for half price night to keep the budget on track.  Wednesday was to be our beach and dinner out day with not much really expected from the weather.  So when the wind started kicking up and the sky started changing Wednesday afternoon, noone had any idea what we were in for. 

The beginning of the storm

Thankfully we had not managed to head to the beach yet when things started changing.  To make a VERY long story shorter – within hours we had sustained winds of 40mph with gusts to over 55mph and waves in the harbor of over 4 feet!  We were rockin’ and rollin’ and watching all of the boats in our anchorage bucking in every direction.  Boats were dragging and then totally losing their anchor hold and then at about 5pm, we lost ours.

After several attempts to reset in the huge waves, we realized there was no way it would happen and the sun was setting fast.  We headed back around Fleming Island to try to settle in on a mooring and made it to the field just as the sun dropped below the horizon.  In the fading light we made over a dozen attempts to hook a mooring ball – all to no avail.  With the high winds and waves and current, Rob just couldn’t get a hold of a mooring without it ripping out of his hands before securing it.

Beauty despite chaos!

Next attempt, we try to set anchor off the mooring field.  You guessed it, no hold.  We dragged our fancy, expensive, highly rated anchor hoping for a grab for about ½ mile when something lodged in the prop and seized the engine.   Now we have wind/current/no anchor hold/no mooring and no engine.   This is always when Rob’s super powers kick in.  He ran below, threw the v-berth apart retrieving the secondary anchor.  Flew through the cockpit with this 40 pound hulk, attached the line and threw is overboard.  We came to a dead halt within 15 seconds!  HOLD!

After a near sleepless night, we suited up in wetsuits as the sun rose preparing to remove the miscellaneous polypropylene lined wrapped around the shaft, retrieve the “big deal” anchor from it’s useless spot and finally pull up anchor #2 (the new anchor #1) to move back around the island. 

The weather service says this is “an event”, some crazy combination of circumstances that bring about totally unpredictable conditions that isn’t repeated but every 8 – 10 years or so.  I say this is coming to be less of a surprise and almost the expected . . . welcome to the cruising life!

To those we love . . .

Returning to Key West and setting anchor, we headed out right away to do a couple errands while Justin and gang wandered around town before experiencing Mallory Square for sunset.  We grabbed a loaf of bread from our favorite bakery, went to our favorite little gourmet grocery and bought a couple of items including Rob’s now daily quart of chocolate milk and hit the post office to see if we had any surprises waiting for us. 

The plan was to re-gather after sunset for dinner aboard Moonshadow to include Will’s apparently famous spaghetti and homemade sauce.    I made some roasted veggies, our yummy bread and my version of a caesar salad and we waited for word to come that the time was right. 

Mark - you make us reMARKable!

This is about when we checked in with Justin to hear that he just learned that his father passed away Monday morning.  Although he had been suffering for quite some time with cancer, Justin had just spent Christmas with him in Connecticut and had no idea that his time was so close.  Upon checking news from home, I learned Monday afternoon that my dear dear friend, Mark, was in kidney failure and had posted his goodbye message on facebook before slipping in and out of consciousness awaiting his entrance into what is to come.   

So dinner that night included raising a toast to life, to those we love, to what is ahead.  Mark said to me when we met before we left – that he believed that when he was gone, there would be a “Sparky of Marky” that would remain in the skies.  I’ll always remember that. 

And it brought to mind my dad and Rob’s dad and our friend Craig and all of the others who we’ve loved and lost to cancer in recent years. 

And it bears noting the impression they’ve made on our lives and memories they’ve left with us.

I am so proud of my boys!

And it reminds me to STOP for the sunset each day . . .  and to tell my kids and family (MOM!) and friends how much they’re LOVED . . . and to be quiet and listen when the wind talks.  

It reminds me to cherish the little things, to appreciate what I have and to notice as life makes its way each day.

So here’s to those who have gone ahead.   

And here’s to those whom we love and cherish.  

And here’s to you and me.  I love you all . . . God Bless.