February 19, 2020
I haven’t written in a while . . . here’s the latest.
Valentine’s Day really isn’t such a big deal to Jinhee and I, but I decided to fly home for the weekend just the same. It’s so easy to get home from Orlando. It was busy but all we did for Valentine’s Day is sleep. A sure sign that we are getting old.
I have been riding my bike and working on various small boat projects in Cape Canaveral but nothing too difficult. After all the little things, I had to put the boat back together, neat and tidy because I was going to slip away upon my return (yesterday).
One thing that I noted in some of my prior posts is that single handing in Florida is not as easy as it was in Europe. There are tides and poles and narrow entrances to slips, the ditch (ICW) and, well, more opportunity to screw things up. For that reason I have relied on my friend Nick to help out.
Nick graciously agreed to help move the boat back down from Port Canaveral to North Palm Beach and I was happy to have his help. Where I was tied at Port Canaveral would make it difficult to slip away alone. With Nick’s help we slipped the lines at around 1pm yesterday and headed South. (see the Featured image. . . taken just after leaving the dock).
For some reason, I was really sick during the journey yesterday, and fed the fish a number of times. It was very odd because as soon as I felt my head start to get foggy, I put on a patch to avoid seasickness; it didn’t work. Perhaps it was fatigue or the flu, but I was sick.
After an hour or so of me explaining various bits of boat operation, Nick, who is a very experienced cruiser, was happy to help, and he did so for much of the night. While I was sleeping in the pilothouse berth, he made sure that the boat stayed on course and we didn’t hit anything in the wild blue ocean. There was very little out there, but so close to shore it was nice to have the help. For all of you boaters out there and those wondering how I do this on my own normally, it’s really easy. I usually set an alarm to go off every 20-30 minutes and then sleep in very short snippets. Last night I probably slept for 4 hours in total and didn’t need that alarm, which is awesome.
The boat and I are back in North Palm Beach marina again to get some work done on the boat, including a new anchor and swivel, a deep cleaning and wax of the boat as well as some adjustments to various boat bits.
Tomorrow I will ride the bike back to Cape Canaveral to pick up the car, then drive back to the boat. Nothing like a little 200km bike ride to keep the calorie count at bay.
I expect to be spending more than a little time on the boat in the USA and less than a lot, but I did get telecoms setup on the boat . . . an unlimited internet connection and a US phone number. These will allow Jinhee to work from the boat when she comes down and for me to stay connected to the outside world as well. (Okay, it really means that I can stream music and movies when I am bored and alone).
During the Toronto boat show I also picked up a new BBQ for the boat. Jinhee really likes to BBQ and I am not such a fan, but I have been trying to cook on the BBQ. That statement alone makes Jinhee fall down in hysterical laughter. I have been trying to avoid BBQs for at least 40 years, and now I am trying to figure out how to cook on one.
The warmth of Florida is nice, but I also enjoyed being back home for a short time to see Jinhee, Megan and Andrew. Next trip, Jinhee will be coming to southern Florida for a conference followed by a couple of days relaxing on the boat. We will continue to find more opportunity to spend time together now that the boat is on this side of the Atlantic probably.
Sorry for the lack of good photos. There was a nice sunset over Florida from the water last night, but I skipped the photos. I did get a photo of a lot of Pelican’s on the water. I know nothing about Pelicans really, but Nick tells me that this is an unusual sight.
