Kathryn visited us on the boat on Sunday, the 15th & she & Wayne dinghied me over to the Big M Casino boat cuz I was going gambling!! I had such a good time - I played my favorite game, Let It Ride. I won, I lost, I won, I lost - you know how it goes. The temperatures were driving us nuts - in the 50’s to the 80’s in the blink of an eye. Wayne’s granddaughter, Sonya (23 yrs old) & her boyfriend, Pat flew
into Ft Myers on the 18th & will spend 3 weeks with us on the boat. They wandered the beach area then we met them for dinner at Nemo’s on the beach. Ahhh, another perfect sunset. (that’s Pat & Sonya under the tree) We left Ft Myers at 10:30 on the 20th & anchored in Gordon Pass (Naples) at 3:45. Finally, peace & quiet. No room at the 
Naples City docks on the 21st so we settled for the more pricey,
Naples Boat Club. Boy did we stick out like a sore thumb! Here we are, a true, old salt, blue-water vessel that actually cruises sitting amongst monster sized that rarely leave the dock, what I call, la-te-da boats. Beautiful marina very classy including pool, high-end boater’s lounge, full kitchen & pool table. I got to play pool again. This boat, Southern Star, had a .JPG)
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Is Nicholas a cutie or what??
Sunday afternoon sat outside chatting with David, Shannon & Nicholas. On the 23rd, David, Karen, Bob & Sue met us for very yummy dinner at Café Luna & David made the most delicious dinner at his home of ribs & corn on the cob on the 25th. I think we all had a great time in Naples but it was time to leave. We left for the Everglades on Saturday, the 28th & anchored at the mouth of the
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Little Shark River. Oh, my David is 39 today! The weather was not cooperating - overcast skies, windy & chilly. We cruised down the river for a few hours but unfortunately, didn’t see much wild life... I'm guessing the Boa Restrictors got them all. Thinking we'd cruise the entire river, we put the anchor down ½ way through the river but after some discussion about getting to Key West, we decided to return our original anchorage. .JPG)
Retrieving the anchor as we always do when all of a sudden, it stopped - pulling hard & shaking the shit out of the windless - I thought it was going to take the bow sprit right off. We were stuck - HARD. The wind was blowing one way, the fast current, the other way. It took us a bit of time to swing the boat so we could be side-ways to the anchor to release it - it finally worked. Thinking about being stuck in the middle of the Everglades & all alone was not the best scenario - but, see? it was still an adventure! 
Sonya & Pat fished & caught a bunch of unidentifiable fish including the dreaded Catfish. 1/31 Despite our better judgment, we left when the weather was still unfavorable, but we wanted to make sure the kids had some time in Key West before they left on 2/7. It was a rough 8 hour trip - we anchored on the west side of Wisteria Island. On 2/1 we took a slip at the City Marina - $2.75/foot/day - YIKES! But it was very convenient to be able to come & go as we pleased. Typical Key West activities ensued; lobster dinner & Karaoke at Two Friends restaurant; Pete & Wayne show at Sloppy’s; Duval Crawl…Sonya & Pat caught the Greyhound at 8am on the 7th. It will take them 6 hours to get to the Ft Lauderdale airport with a 4 hour wait to catch their plane to Wisconsin. No problem for those in their 20’s. We dropped the dinghy off at Fish N Race to have the out-board motor serviced then anchored by Sigsbee for the night (Goverment owned-where the campground is for our active & retired service men) . We both took in a deep lung-full of the crisp, cool air & settled down to do - well…NOTHING. February 8th Overcast, north winds & chilly. We moved the boat over to Oceanside Marina so Mark DeJong, diesel mechanic extraordinaire, could figure out why we’re burning so much oil.
Even though we’re not officially “home” yet, I am going to end the 'Big Adventure' blog . After all, had we not opted to return to the states, we'd be in the Caribbean by now - like Antigua or someplace equally as exotic & the blog would continue
It’s already Friday, February 17th and we’re still at Oceanside & still waiting for parts & working on the engine. Too boring, too much detail & waaaayyy too upsetting to relate. Suffice it to say that we didn’t expect problems with this new engine that was installed in 2009.
I am excited to get home to complete a few projects on the cottage & to see how big the trees & shrubs have grown.
We think we'll be in the states until at least June. My son, David & Shannon are getting married on May 18th & Nicholas will be baptized on May 20th; Wayne wants to attend his granddaughter’s high school graduation sometime in June. After that? Who knows? We’d love to cruise to Cuba then down into the Caribbean but you know, “the best-laid plans of mice & men oft go astray“.
Hope you stay tuned for more & thanks so much to all of you who’ve followed our journeys, were scared for us, are happy for us, & wrote to tell us so.
A calm sea does not produce a skilled
sailor. We cannot direct the wind, but
we can adjust the sails. Anyone can
hold the helm when the sea is calm.
Tom Culve
True in life as it is on the sea
