Happy New Year

So it would be nothing short of rude to begin my first post of 2012 without first saying HAPPY NEW YEAR!  Needless to say, this is quite the beginning of a new year in my life.  I can't honestly say that a year ago I would have believed I'd be living on a sailboat floating off of Key West, FL the beginning of 2012.  Just goes to prove, anything can be accomplished if you're willing to put in the work and make the sacrifice/compromise of making what can be uncomfortable changes!

Without further ado - let's catch up.  If you haven't been to Key West, you owe it to yourself to make that happen.  Although it is an off the beaten path community, it is entertaining at every step.  First off, the sunsets here cannot be beat.  We've been here for three sunsets now and each and every one is a delight.  A friend Alice has been excitedly saying "oh, you'll see the red sails at sunset" ever since I first brought up Key West.  I'm embarrassed to say that I had no idea exactly what she was talking about - thinking it was some sunset phenomenon that happened.  Guess any sailor worth their salt should know that Jimmy Buffet coined the phrase to reference the red-sailed schooners that take sunset viewers out each evening.  Their beautiful array of red sails are a treat each evening as they head out to watch the setting sun.

New Year's Eve morn found Rob and I preparing for a visit from our very dear friends of 25 years from Hilton Head, Patricia and Jay, coming to spend the holiday with us.  We needed to provision a few things and become more familiar with Key West so we headed out early to walk to the nearest "real" grocery store.   We've been finding real gems - quaint little cafes and bakeries along the way  - but the grocery store wasn't so easy, being over 3.5 miles from the marina.  We walked the whole way expecting to catch a bus back with our load . . . which never came as expected and we wrangled about 40 pounds of groceries in our backpacks for the grueling walk home.   To add insult to injury, when we finally made it into the dinghy to finish preparations on the boat - there were so many pleasure craft in the water and we took a BIG jet ski wake over the bow, drenching me and all of the groceries in a wash of saltwater!  Ah, the sailor's life.

But Patricia and Jay made it in not much later and we got right to the business of breaking them in on life aboard.  Not being seasoned sailors, they have been great troopers, braving a night including flashlight lit dinghy rides across the very choppy channel New Year's Eve and the always interesting toilet routine.  We viewed the infamous sunset with the appropriate sundowner apps and drinks before a quick BBQ dinner prefaced our night in Key West ringing in the New Year.  We headed into town about 8pm and wandered Duval with the crowds of revelers.  At midnight, we joined the throngs at the Bourbon Street Inn to watch the drag queen decend in the 6 foot high heeled red shoe all being broadcast by Anderson Cooper Live.  You gotta give it to Key West!

The dinghy ride back to the boat after 1am was pleasantly uneventful and we settled in for a peaceful, rocking night aboard.   Well, that was the intent anyway.  Some time just after I had drifted off to Sleep I found myself hearing a scream in the distance.  It was New Year's Eve of course and screaming didn't really seem that out of place, considering.  So I tried to ignore it . . . until it went on about every minute or so for over a half hour, and then beyond.  Rob was "out" so I went up on deck to determine if I should be paying better attention and then realized it was, in fact, NOT a party cry.  So I hailed the Coast Guard to alert them that someone in the harbor was apparently in trouble.  To make a VERY LONG story a bit more abbreviated - this person apparently had dinghyed out to a neighboring sailboat to find that the dinghy would not start again to assist her return to the island.  She was not at all in the mood to be patient with her situation and was entirely prepared to wake the WORLD if that's what it took.  We hailed the Coast Guard, Police and the Florida Wildlife Commission, all of whom determined they could not (or would not) assist.  Rob ended up "conversing" with her (yelling over the water) that we had called the authorities and if they didn't show up, we'd assist her in the daylight which she finally saw as enough reassurance to quiet herself and let us REST!  Seriously, could we have ANY just normal nights on this adventure?!

 After about two hours of sleep, we woke to begin our first day of the new year.  Our neighboring screamer appeared to have started her dinghy some time before we rose (maybe she should have tried again before SCREAMING for hours!) and we managed to fight our way to consciousness over brunch on board.  The balance of the day was spent wandering this cute/crazy/unique little town.  We visited Truman's "Little White House" where we met "Mr. I", the Southernmost spot on the USA, had coffee and pastry at the Old Town Bakery, a yummy little french cafe and enjoyed the entertainers at Mallory Square accompanying another phenomenal sunset.   Patricia and Jay took on a hotel room for the next two nights in town and we used their space to take a luxuriously long and hot shower before returning to our floating abode. 






With this kind of start to the New Year . . . it promises to be one of great adventure and surprise!  May that be the case for us all! 
Happy Happy New Year!