Watching and Waiting

The view this morning . . .

I spend so much of my days right now watching and waiting for weather.  I am never ceased to be amazed at how much energy is not only expended but NEEDED when living this lifestyle.  We are trying to start moving north.  Rob's mom has come to the Daytona area for a couple of weeks and we're due to make a stop and a visit next week.  And we're watching and waiting.

"The Boys" on AlexMarie for sundown . . .

The weather is a huge part of our daily existence. Trying to determine the right window to head out to sea is important and time consuming. The forecasts changed throughout the day so you have to stay on your toes if you don't want to head out too early or otherwise miss your chance. And sometimes you just wash your hopes out to sea without you when everything unexpectedly changes and you end up stuck like this week.   This morning, contrary to yesterdays "news" we've woken to continued high winds and rain . . . SURPRISE!  But, REALLY, this is supposed to pass . . . ?




Of course when you're in a beautiful, warm and comfortable place (okay, outside of the 25+ knots of shifting winds we've seen the past few days!), watching and waiting can't be all bad.  We've made good use of our days enjoying the company of the friends in the anchorage and doing odd jobs around the boat.  We're cleaned up and ready to go with new navigational aids, solar panels, fresh fuel filters and such. 

And "The Girls" . . .

We have new friends, Doug and Judy aboard Lime'N who have joined in the fray with AlexMarie, Shalamar and Moonshadow - so we're certainly not lonely here.  We've had some fun get togethers sharing bar tricks (the banana and rum bottle one you're going to have to see one day!) and good food.  Luc welcomed us aboard AlexMarie on (what day WAS that anyway?!) . . . Our first night with Doug and Judy, and we had great fun.

Fair winds to Bermuda, Kev and Judith!

Last night we attended a seminar at West Marine (our home away from home!) on outfitting a boat for cruising.  Kev and Judith met us there and we said our goodbyes after dinner at Southport Raw Bar.  Plans are for a pot luck barbeque aboard Moonshadow tonight before we all try to make our way out of the anchorage in what (HOPEFULLY) will be a good window tomorrow.  Sebastian and Liz have still promised us Mahjong lessons, a game I've been wanting to learn for years now.  The days always manage to fill up with something!

Doug and Judy are behind schedule for a meetup with family in Georgetown in the Islands, Kim and Terri are due to head north to point called home and Luc, Sebastian and Liz are trying to cross to the Bahamas and points south on their way to Puerto Rico.  Kev and Judith are on schedule for a crossing to Bermuda the end of next week.  And we're on our final trek "home".  And we are all still watching and waiting . . .