Gabriel Lanai

After posting Gabriel’s pictures, I thought, for those of you who don’t know his story, I would tell it. Gabriel was born April 1st in Boulder Co… on the front porch, but not by choice. Ruthie had been in labor for 30 hours and her contractions had slowed down, she was exhausted. Jared and she had decided to have their baby at home, there were 2 midwives present along with a nurse midwife, friends and family. Since her labor had slowed down the midwives suggested that they go out on the front porch for some fresh air and new scenery. It was a lovely morning but at 4:30 it was still a brisk Colorado morning of 20 degrees. Ruthie was wrapped up in a blanket enjoying the lovely CO sky with all its stars and freshness. Not long on the porch, she had an intense contraction. She told Jared she thought the baby was coming, Jared unconvinced, stood behind her holding her through her contraction, immediately 2 more followed with Ruthie informing Jared this it! Jared moved around to the front of Ruthie, trying to catch Gabriel as he slipped out of Ruthie’s hands moving on past Jared’s outstretched hands, gently landing on the front porch. Don’t worry; Ruthie was not far from the deck. Jared of course put Gabriel on Ruthie and wrapped mom and baby up while everyone in the house ran outside responding to Jared’s hollers.

Gabriel Lanai (for those who don’t know Lanai is Hawaiian for porch) was born with phenomena and stopped breathing about 45 minutes after birth. He spent just over 2 weeks in the hospital, and 3-4 weeks at home on oxygen, until his lungs were strong. Carey and I stayed in CO until all was well. He is now strong and perfect traveling with his parents around the country. I see him on Skype but long to hold him once again, hopefully in August. (Being born with phenomena had nothing to do with being delivered on the porch!)

Again, thank you again to all who prayed for him.

July 21, 2010

I have been thinking about the best way to update you, the reader, on our plans. This may sound like a simple task one that includes data, facts, and photos. But in reality any information I post needs to be interesting, humorous and hold your attention… sounds a bit daunting on my part. So forgive me if this does not meet at least my expectations, although I am hoping yours are met, somehow.

This past year has been an amazing one for us. There are truly no words that can explain, or really describe what has gone on with, or more accurately, in us. That’s just it; most of our changes, our experiences, and our life, have been in the realm of the unseen, the hidden or the unobserved. These are the things that I can’t and probably should not, try and explain to you, you will just have to use your own imagination. I will pass on some thoughts which demanded a moment for pause in our life:

Consider…
How He loves us. How He gazes into our eyes. How He walks before us to make way our path. How He calls each by name, knowing each hair on our head. How He saves our tears and considers them in His heart. How He came to walk the life of a man. How He came to suffer, so we may call Him friend. How He came to die so we may live. How He rose so we may be free. Oh How He loves us!
Consider how He loves.

We just got back from a trip to Long Beach CA where we spent 8 days meeting and working with Carey’s business partner. Carey will be designing and building a three wheeled lightweight (as light as an electric vehicle can be) electric vehicle. This is a great opportunity for him and he is so excited. We will tell you more as we can, for now things are top secret.

We may have a place to live in CA, up by Idyllwild. Mountain Center is the area and from what I can tell it’s rather isolated. I suppose having lived on the boat, and being in rather isolated places has prepared us for this next step. Carey will have a large garage and shop to work in plus 5 acres which will allow him to make any noise he needs, without the worry of neighbors. The house is huge, so visitors will be appreciated. We are so used to being near each other I imagine we’ll feel a little lost trying to find each other in such a big house and acreage. We feel lost sleeping in a king size bed!

As we wait for all things to fall in place I am reminded of all the friends we have met here in St Augustine, people who we now consider family. Lasting relationships, and quick friends seem more of a rarity these days in our fast paced society. I say society and not world because I don’t believe the world is like this, yet. “Westernized cultures”, “civilized cultures”, cultures where all the conveniences rule lives have fallen victim to a faster pace. We are now a society that is based on a relationship built on text messaging, voice mail and email as the first, and most often, form of communication. I don’t knock these things, I find them quick and easy, and I suppose that’s just it, quick and easy instead of long and lasting. I wonder what things will be like for my grandchildren and great grandchildren. Hard to know.

I will miss our friends, the experiences we have shared, the laughs and sheer joy of being in His presence. His, Him, He, yes the God of the universe that has so deeply touched our souls and our relationships during out time here.

The skies are beautiful here on the Florida east coast and we love going to the beach. No crowds, yellow crabs of some sort that are quite entertaining, and warm waters... I will miss this ocean. I will also miss living on the water, marina life may not be my idea of a good time but floating on the water is the best. Big seas never sit well with me but I have found seasick pills that do their job. We have debated hanging our bed once we are back on land, so maybe we can rock a little.. wondering what it would be like in an earthquake... hmmm...

The funny picture with the teeth is a manatee that was here in the marina chomping stuff off the docks. He was huge and full of scars from prop blades. Manatees are slow and not fearful so don't always make it out of harms way when boats are speeding by. I love the birds here and have enjoyed taking pictures of them. They seem to be staying away from our boat more this year, maybe it has to do with Carey's pop gun...

The boat is still for sale and we will let you know when it sells. Really not much I can say about that except it’s all in His hands. We are now in the throes of summer in Florida and hot she is. We try and stay out of the heat, cooking is an issue and laundry is… well just a dirty job that has to be done. The funny thing is, I don’t remember many nice days at all, it seems it went from cold to hot in 2 short weeks with confused temperatures in-between.

We have seen some great wildlife this year in the marina, which is surprising because so many animals died from the cold this past winter. Fish were floating all over the marina, dead from cold water temperatures. Manatees died and turtles struggled. We saw our first Manatee close up this year and I have seen more turtles than anywhere so far. They are not big but they are here and that is a good sign. The wildlife at our local restaurant seems to be more lacking, to which there is no complaint. I like it peaceful.

My children are fine, although I have not seen them in some time. As you know I am a first time Grandma and again want to thank all of you for praying for Gabriel. He is doing great and is beautiful of course. I am thankful for Skype so I am able to see him once in a while, although I look forward to the day I can again hold him in my arms. I’m not sure what a Grandma is suppose to feel like, but for me, I again experience that sense of protection, as I did with my own children, along with pride that he is the most perfect thing around. I look forward to being with him, I look at his picture often, he is often in my dreams. I miss him, I long to kiss him and hug him and tell him I love him. I want to spoil him and let his mom and dad worry about instructing him. I long to hold him again.

Jared and Ruthie are headed to Maine to visit friends and will be returning to VA where their boat is. They are trying to make their plans and decide what direction they are headed. My guess is they are also tired, new parents in all of it.

Jeff is currently in Africa; he spent 6 months in Sierra Leone and has been in Uganda the past month after which time he will return to Sierra Leone. He plans on being back in the states in September, as things stand now. He sounds great on the phone! I miss him.

Well, that is life for now, holding steady, working on a big project and walking in faith, awestruck by how He loves.

Time

Time at sea…

Ah, Friday… or is it Thursday or Saturday? Time has a new meaning these days. We are no longer pushed by the clock, controlled by meetings and appointments. While watching “The Gods Must Be Crazy” the other night, I couldn’t help but wonder how we as a society became so lost… Lost in time, lost in meetings, lost in appointments and lost in traffic. What makes and keeps us so busy? Are we missing something? Where is life within this vastness of lostness?

Sitting in the middle of an ocean, OK so the Caribbean is not quite the middle, but work with me for a minute… time is of no significance. We don’t to need to shoot the sun at noon for navigational purposes, though it would be a good exercise. We move according to weather and sea state. We have no appointments, no meetings and no traffic. I can’t help but wonder if this is life as God intended. Don’t get me wrong, we work and we have a routine but we do not have the pressure of time. The element of chasing time that makes us forget that we are human, that our neighbors are human, that the guy we pass on the street is human, and that the man begging for food is human, is not after us in this place.

We have to live within the parameters of the culture we choose to live in, or are wedged in, but do we have to succumb to the control that time so adamantly demands? It raises it head to control us, if we are not being productive with our time, time tells us we are to get up and hurry up, so its wicked hand can once again control us. The hands of time reach far into our minds twisting our thoughts and priorities.

Escape to the sea where time has no hold.

Mates Log 10.15.2009

Yes, it has been some time since you have heard from us. We are still in St Augustine, FL, sweltering in the heat and humidity. It’s October, a time when our expectations lean towards cooler nights and breezier days. Not so this year. Even locals are getting tired of the heat and wondering where the cooler weather is. In the meantime other parts of the nation are experiencing early snows with temperatures in the, too cold to want to know range. I can’t help but wonder if this will be a year of extremes.

We have put SongBird up for sale, so it’s with a degree of sadness that I write. As you may or may not know Carey has designed and developed two, three wheeled vehicles, the Rocketship (RKTSHP) and the SoLo. Both projects seem to be taking off at the same time, requiring us to return to California. We are quite excited about the possibilities regarding these two projects and will keep you informed of the progress and our plans as they unfold.

As I take a moment to think about the past year and a half I am overwhelmed with memories, fun, hard, happy, and sad times, incredible beauty, and incredible people. Life on SongBird has been a great experience, as well as a great home, as she has so faithfully served us. I can’t believe we are going to have to pass her on to somebody else already. It will be a sad day when the time comes but we are so thankful for all the tremendous experiences and the opportunity to do such a thing.

We are also thankful we took this time out of our lives to pursue a longtime dream, and would not change anything. It is ending sooner than we planned but then when do things work out according to our exact plan? Life is too short not to go for the gusto and adventure when the opportunity arises.

It’s with great fondness we recall all the new friends we made, the places we saw that we could not have seen otherwise, and all the experiences we could have never dreamed of, that will stay with us forever. The ideal of sailing is true. Sitting on the bow of your boat with the one you love, the wind in your hair, the ocean spray in your face, dolphins jumping in the bow wave, counting huge starfish that you can see 20 feet down below. You can’t help but consider the beauty, the peace and the privilege. The autopilot steers the boat while the sails catch the wind, allowing you to relax and soak it all in. The air is warm, fresh and clean, it is hard to imagine anything else other than that one moment in time. These times may be few, or short lived, because the wind may shift requiring you to leave your place of wonder to trim a sail or two… the dolphins will move on to another adventure and more than likely a wave will come up splashing you back to reality, forcing you to face your tasks at hand. But the thing is, it’s all true, the wonder, the adventure, the beauty, the joy, the peace. You can’t escape it, and you sure don’t want to.

The ideal of a simpler life, consuming fewer resources, facing life challenges that do not include traffic and air pollution, awaits those who cruise. You learn how to take care of everything yourself and find innovation in areas you never considered imaginable. You learn to make friends quickly with those who are not always like you, but who would give you the shirt off their backs in a minute, because you all share one thing in common… you live on a very small boat in a very large ocean.

It is cheaper to cruise then to live on land, your lifestyle is much simpler, your footprint much smaller and your needs and desires much different. Laundry is expensive to do but you don’t wear all that many clothes, and when you do, you wear the same item often. Your wardrobe is simple, can easily be washed in a bucket and hung in the rigging. Gas costs more, but you rarely need any when you sail. Food is expensive but the ocean provides many meals and if you eat like a local you keep your costs down. You don’t have a mortgage or rent… anchoring is free. Communication is not as easy, but then, is it worth fast internet speed to be stuck in a cubicle? A doctor’s appointment will cost you less, as will a dentist. You get a lot of exercise, you walk everywhere. When you need a ride somewhere, someone will help you out and you will have made a new friend. You have time to read books, write, visit with new friends, play cards, learn tournament bocce ball, watch old movies, and pray. You have time to snorkel and dive, watch fish, hunt for seashells, and sea glass, make jewelry, design purses. You can let out all and any creative juices you want to explore but never had time for, unless it requires a garage and power tools! You will meet people of all faiths, including those who share your God. You will find yourself encouraged, challenged and stirred. You will have more of a sense of life and how you want to live it.

The reality of sailing is also true. Such things as seasickness, waves dumping gallons of water on top of your head without notice, losing things overboard, broken parts and the inconvenience of the dying engine are only some of things to be contended with. It’s a hassle being on a boat when you need to use crutches, other then the fact that you never have to go far. You may feel damp and cold at times but if you stay south, not often. You will never shovel snow but you may have to bail the dinghy after a rain.

The things we learned while contending will stay with us for a lifetime… some things will remain useful while other things we may never have to deal with again. One thing is for sure, we never knew there were so many uses for beer cans, 5200 (every cruisers glue solution), and wine corks! No cruiser should leave home without being well stocked in these items.

Life is truly good on a boat, but since all things come to an end, we have to say goodbye to the “good life” and move on to a new adventure. I will miss this life, this adventure, this amazing time. I sing as SongBirds sails sing, in perfect wind, and a perfect sea. Life is good on a boat.

For Carey to have his vehicles put into production is quite an accomplishment and blessing and one we look forward to, and we really miss rides on the RKTSHP.

If you know someone who wants to move forward in their dreams towards the cruising life, SongBird is for sale and ready to cruise the world. She is truly the happiest when out on the ocean sailing her heart out. You can feel it in her sails and hulls.

A few bits of news: SongBird and Carey and I are going to be in a movie. Well who knows what will be edited out, but at least SongBird will make the cut. The movie is Grazia based on the book Grace. While our friends Rich and Else were out visiting, Rich and Carey met the guy who was doing the location scouting and discovered he needed a boat. Carey gave him our card and a week later he showed up to check it out. He said they would be back in a week. Sure enough we got a call that they would arrive in an hour. We met everyone, they did the shoot and then we all went to lunch. It was really fun and everyone was so nice!

In Sept. Carey and Jared spent two and a half weeks in Savannah installing Willow’s new engine. In the meantime Ruthie came down to spend some time with me while we waited for our husbands to return. Ruthie had been in New York with her mom for her grandpa’s funeral, at which time they also discovered one of her brothers has lymphoma. Michael is responding well to treatments but of course it’s a long hard road.

My sister, Lani, and Eddie were out visiting Eddie’s parents in Daytona so were able to come to be with us for a day. It was wonderful seeing them! We all ended up stuck on the boat for the day since it rained most of the time, but we managed to humor ourselves. As I mentioned Rich and Else came out for a visit which was really fun and wonderful. We love having friends come! They made us feel like we were on vacation! My youngest son Jeff will be here next month, and then in Dec. we are headed to CO. Jared and Ruthie will be in VA for Nov before heading to CO in Dec. It is going to be great to see friends and family! We will probably be in CA in Jan. so are very excited about seeing Carey’s kids and grandkids. It’s been too long since we have been with our families, we can’t wait!

We still have our same phone numbers, although Carey does not usually have his phone with him, besides he can’t access his voice mail. It’s still best to call us on my phone number. We can’t receive text messages on our phones so if you try we won’t get it. Well, I think that covers it for now on our end. Please let us know how you are and what you are up to and of course if you are ready for a trip to FL!

Mates Land Log 7.30.09

THE LATEST AND GREATEST BREAKING NEWS!!!! JARED AND RUTHIE ARE GOING TO HAVE A BABY!!!

St Augustine is full of old buildings, quaint shops and plenty of history. This being the oldest European settlement in the United States, St Augustine has survived a myriad of wars and battles starting over 50 years before the first pilgrims landed at Plymouth. The oldest house, the oldest schoolhouse and the oldest drug store, all stand here in what is called the Oldest City of God. We have enjoyed staying here with its friendly people and rich history.

We are currently living the marina life which includes showers, laundry, a dock to step out on, so no dinghy-ing to shore, and power for a window air conditioner that sits on a top hatch. We have no anchor to worry about dragging and no limit as to how many friends can come visit, since we no longer have to use the dinghy to get them to the boat. There is a restaurant in front of us with some great live music if we choose to open the door and listen. We have made new friends and have settled into a daily routine… well, that is if falling off the boat is something you call routine.

I had been cleaning the boat and had just started with some cleaning of the lines. I took a large step from the top deck onto the first top swim step. There is a small, foot step to make for an easier step, but I bypassed this so I could step stretching over the lines laid out on the swim step. From this first large step I am not sure exactly what really happened, but when I put my foot down it started to slip, I tried to catch myself but I was by now doing the splits with one leg stuck high on the deck while the other slid out in front of me. I think I tried to grab the raid-arch, but only managed to jam my fingers and slam my back leg, which I think set me on my tush. I’m pretty sure I caught a cleat with my foot while bouncing up and over the side of the boat. I then landed on top of the line hanging from the side of the boat and tied to the dock. I held on thinking for a brief moment I might be able to crawl across the line, without landing in the nasty water, to get to the bottom swim step. What I was thinking... I have no idea, other then the fact that I have watched too many movies where stuntmen do these types of things. Before I could bring myself to reality that this would never work I flipped around the line and fell in the nasty water. Falling in the water in a marina creates a belief that surly one can walk on water and not have to actually swim in the muck. Believing in miracles did not help me this day and I realized I was going to have to find a way out of the water. I swam to the back swim ladder and tried pulling it down so I could climb up and out of the muck, but the line I had landed on caught the ladder when I pulled on it which only caused the ladder to hit me in the head…. You ask, where was Carey during all of this; well, he was sitting in the boat reading, not having any idea what was happening. With no hero in sight to rescue me I had to pull myself up onto an inverted ladder and lay there until I could regain my wits. I saw there was no other way out of this lovely water, so with a quick look around to see who was or was not watching, and with great effort, I ungracefully climbed back on to the boat. Hosing myself down with fresh water and assessing my injuries, I could not figure out what else I had hit on my way overboard. I had bruises all over my legs, arms and other unmentionable places. I had cut and sprained my ankle, and my head was growing a knot the size of Kansas. Life on a boat can be dangerous! I have healed and the bruises have all faded way. I am now on crutches after some minor foot surgery, which is not near as painful as when I fell off the boat.

If you want to see the latest development with Carey’s trike (the SoLo) you can check out the pictures at http://www.motiveind.com/ click on the portfolio tab. There is a picture of the SoLo with “website coming soon” written across it. If you put your cursor over the picture other pictures will show up in the frame to the right. We are excited to see what might come of the project.

My sister and Eddie are coming for a visit in Aug., Else and Richard, friends from Colorado are coming in Sept. and Jared should be back down in a month. Jared and Ruthie have been in Maine living the farming life while their boat is still in Savannah. Jared will be coming down to work on the boat engine and will stop in for a quick visit with us.

As it turned out, Carey and Jared went up to Savanna to put the new engine in, while Ruthie came down to hang out with me. We had a great time together and plan on driving up to Savanna once the guys are done with the engine installation. They seem to be having their own adventures.

I think that wraps it up for now.

Mates Log 5.24.2009

We set anchor at St Augustine at 6pm just as the lightning starts and a front passes by. We are glad to be anchored and wonder about Willow and Diapensia. Jared calls that night... they are having some problems. Two bolts from the engine mounts backed out, one hit the flywheel, was bent and then sheared off… the other went through the crankcase and the engine has blown up!

They were trying to sail up the Intercoastal Waterway, since their engine was dead, to get to Savanna. They didn’t make it… one of the squalls hit them broadside and pushed them onto a sandbar, which grounded them. They had to wait hours for the tide to rise. I’m not sure but I think they had an anchor out to help keep them from getting pushed up on the sand bar any further due to the wind. The rode broke and they lost their anchor. They called for a tow once off the sand bar and were towed all night to Savanna, about 45 miles away. The engine is not salvageable and they are now stuck in Savanna looking for an engine. They are currently anchored but not in a very good place, it’s tight and they are getting beat up from the wind being on their stern… long story but they have to have two anchors out (but left with only one) so they won’t swing with the wind… there is not enough room to swing. (Ben and Jamie left for VA once they landed in Savanna, who could blame them!) We hope to be of some help, somehow.

We are still in St Augustine waiting out weather… today we are sitting in a storm of 35 knots of wind and constant rain. The boat is getting a good, and much needed wash. Jared and Ruthie are hunkered down in Savanna with the same storm system. Diapensia has gone on and should be home soon. In the meantime we have been hanging out with some old friends (the Dill’s) from my Crested Butte days, which has been a great treat.

…. Here is the long and short of it…. we spent almost 2 weeks getting saturated with rain and hammered by wind while we were anchored out. We dug trenches in the muck and the boat produced a huge crop of mold. So we decided, why go all the way up to Annapolis which would take us weeks just to turn around in 5 months to head south to the Caribbean. We are here, we have friends here and it’s cheaper… so we are staying.

Ruthie is with us right now helping Mark and Katie set up a coffee kiosk, Jared is back on their boat in Savanna putting in a new motor that we were able to find, and Carey and I are looking for a car. We are now living in the Oyster Creek Marina, have a new address and are enjoying showers and new friends.

St Augustine is a lovely old town established in the 1600’s. The historical district is full of old buildings, homes and businesses. I don’t have pictures yet since the sun just came out 3 days ago. We plan on being here through hurricane season (the end of Oct.) so come visit! …Or wait until we are in the Caribbean.

You can now call, write or email us and we don’t have to wait out weeks before getting back to you. Also, if we missed any emails during our time out please forgive us. By the time we would get to our email there would be so much junk mail that it was easy to miss “real” emails. We will soon be looking for jobs and settling into “normal” life.

We look forward to hearing from all of you! Ta-ta for now!

Mates Log 5.15.2009

Greetings from St. Augustine, FL! Yes we are back in the US trying to remember we have cell phones, traffic, dirty sea water we can’t use, radio stations, and mass communication! It’s been an adjustment but we are glad to be “home”… for the most part.

We left Compass Cay April 24; our journey is now taking us back to the US where we will wait out hurricane season. Our plan is to spend the summer in Annapolis, MD working and doing a few more things to the boat. We first head north to Wardrick Wells where we spent my birthday. Jared, Ruthie, Ben and Jamie decorated the boat with homemade streamers, cooked dinner and made a cake while we were out with Jimmy and Renee and their daughter Carman having drinks and pupu’s at the local Tiki bar. When we went back to the dinghies we found a huge, Happy Birthday Lisa, dug out in the sand… it was wonderful! A good time was had by all and once again I enjoyed the feeling of being so well loved by family and friends.

The next day we all got up early to head to New Providence. I have to admit we leave about an hour behind the other two boats. At some point during the day we will pass them, leaving them behind to be only a speck on the horizon. Catamarans are much faster than monohulls. We anchored on the west end of New Providence in a lovely bay surrounded by homes, docks and trees. I could not take in enough of the beautiful water knowing that all too soon we would no longer be enjoying this pristine ocean, no longer able to just jump in when the urge hit, no longer able to wash dishes in sea water and no longer able to see the bottom… all things that are part of our daily lives and routine.

We have a favorable south east winds the day we leave… we finally drag out the spinnaker, a sail we have not yet used. This is a big colorful sail that hangs over the bow of the boat and is used in downwind conditions. We reread our sailing book to refresh our memories and hook the sail up. Poof! She opens up out of her sock and we pick up speed! We love this sail! It’s so colorful and big… we make some sheet adjustments and sit back and relax for hours!

Willow, Diapensia (Jimmy's boat) and SongBird are now so far apart that we can no longer use our handheld VHF to communicate. We turn on the Big Daddy of VHF’s (OK this is just the VHF wired into the boat). We make plans to anchor on the bank where we will wait for the other two boats to catch up. We find a sandy spot where the three boats will comfortably fit. We avoid sea grass, as the holding is not as good as sand. While we are waiting for the other boats a US Coast Guard helicopter shows up and starts circling us… they hail us on our radio wanting to know if we have seen an upside boat with a red hull… they are searching for a boat that has sunk and turned over. Once again we are thankful for our seaworthy boat.

Willow and Diapensia show up, anchor, and head over to our boat for dinner. Jimmy ties a line from his boat to our boat so they can pull themselves over… this allowed him not to have to put his motor on his dinghy (the current was too strong to row over). Some of us girls are sitting outside, enjoying the fresh breeze and stars when we started to think that maybe Willow had moved a little. We asked some of the others to take a look, no one thinks she has really moved. We settle back into our pleasant environment and again relax. Once again, we check on the other boats, we are now convinced that Willow is leaving us all behind and with no crew! We all help Willow’s captain and crew into the dinghy with pots, dishes and cutlery and send them off to chase their rouge boat, but no one thought to offer a flashlight! Fifteen minutes later they call on the VHF letting us know they are all safe and sound and that Willow had dragged almost half a mile. They think they will stay put and get a head start in the morning… sure…

With some difficulty we get Diapensia’s captain and crew in their dinghy (the current and tide was making for some wild water) and on to their boat. We clean up a little and head to bed. I had noticed that Willow had decided to re-anchor near us, so once again we were all snug in our little group. Ten minutes later Jared calls us and says he thinks we are dragging anchor, I of course think he is just trying to play a trick on us since he moved Willow backup with all of us. He finally convinces me to go outside and take a look. Sure enough, we are no longer near Willow and Diapensia! We wonder why our anchor alarm is not working and if we had reset it.  The anchor has reset itself, but will it hold? All of us are now wondering if we should just way our anchors and drift… we are after all headed in the right direction and there is nothing in site. I can't bring myself to want to do this.  It is nerve racking, no one gets much sleep that night as we are all jumping up checking our anchors. We ended up dragging three times almost ¼ of a mile before we finally settle in. The thing about dragging your anchor is you don’t feel it. The conditions are such that the water is rough, since we are a light boat we easily bounce and move around so there is already a lot of movement going on. It's unnerving. Morning comes and we all head North West to Bimini.

We plan on spending a day in Bimini. We hope to do one last snorkel trip and find conch for dinner. We also hope to use up the last of our Bahamian money at the grocery store before we leave. I don’t feel so well so Carey and I pass on the water activities. We do head to town to see what we can find at the market. The stores are small and really don’t have much in them. You might describe them as an under stocked gas station market, and at half the size. There are three of these markets on Bimini, all on the same road about a mile in length.

The conch hunt is a success!! Nine conchs will be joining us for dinner. We make conch salad and conch fritters… truly a conch feast! The nine of us cram around SongBird’s table and dig in. Hands are flying everywhere, no one is really sure what plate they are using as we are all having to share since there is not enough room for everyone and everything. This is our last night in the Bahamas, we are all a bit sad.

Early Sunday morning we leave heading for Palm Beach, FL. We will be crossing the Gulf Stream so have to plan our course accordingly. The stream runs about 2.5 knots so will push us north. Again we set out the spinnaker and make 8 knots in 12 knots of wind. We end up being too conservative and come out of the stream too soon. We get into Palm Beach around dinner time. Willow and Diapensia show up a couple of hours later and with problems.

Willow has broken two motor mounts. The next day they get towed into the marina and wait for a welder. We stay in Palm Beach for almost a week, waiting for repairs, weather and the re-supplying of the boats. Palm Beach is your typical coastal city full of high rises and boats. The marina has the least expensive laundry we have seen yet… a dollar for a wash and a dollar for a dry. This beats $10 a load in Staniel where someone else does your laundry for you, there are no laundry facilities where you can do your own washing.

Our time in Palm Beach does not start off well. First thing in the morning we notice Diapensia has been boarded by the harbor patrol. Hmmm... not a good sign, but we can't imagine what they are looking for. Generally it's drugs but why Diapensia? We quickly head out in the dinghy to check in at the customs office. On our way back we notice Willow has now been boarded by harbor patrol. We know we must be next since we are all traveling together. Jared dinghys over to tell us they are looking for drugs. They had a tip two boats came in late at night that are smugglers. None of us are happy about the searches. We know we all look rough around the edges, after all we are cruisers, living a life of freedom and unconventionalism. Hair is long and wild, skin is darkly tanned, beards are scruffy and our clothes are rather well used. Jared returns to Willow and finally gets one of the rude harbor patrol guys to listen to his question: why are you searching us since we are a group of 3 boats? They don't believe this long haired, rough around the edges guy, so gruffly ask, where is the other boat you are traveling with? Jared points to us, anchored next to him. Who is that, he demands! My mom... They quickly end making a mess in Willow and leave. They had completely torn apart Diapensia and Willow, and were quite rude as well... based on a random, vague tip.  We are all happy to see them leave.

May 9th Willow and Diapensia pull anchor around 9pm headed straight for Charleston. This will be approximately a 52 hour trip. We choose to stay the night in Palm Beach and get up early the next day to leave. We will not be able to make a 52 hour trip with just the two of us; sleeping 2 to 3 hours at a time for more than 2 days is not something we would like to do… anyway we don’t have to be north of Cape Hatteras until June 1st. We do hope to meet up with Willow somewhere along the way.

We leave Palm Beach the next morning at seven. We decide we will go ahead and travel a 24 hour trip so we have a better chance of catching up with Willow and Diapensia. It’s lonely sailing alone, as we have become accustomed to having everyone nearby and within radio distance. The winds are light and the sea is too dark to see anything in the water. This day I am missing the Bahamas tremendously… the water, the fish, the people and the closeness of all the islands. We are going to have to travel over 600 miles to get to our final destination… today it seems so far away.

They say sailing is hours of boredom and moments of sheer terror… the next couple of days are full of boredom. I find I can hardly stay awake on my watches and I only want to sleep when I am not on watch. We don’t have many sails to change as the wind is steady, but still light. Sometime around midnight Carey gets me up to help him take down all the sails, we will have to motor. The wind is all over the place, North East, South West, South, South East and only 5 to 10 knots. At 3:30 am I get back up, Carey is dead tired and needing to sleep. I try and keep myself outside so I don’t fall asleep but it’s freezing cold. I duck inside and decide I will read. This is what a watch looks like when you are inside reading… you read for 10 to 15 minutes then you jump up, go outside, look around for any sign of a boat, check your heading and duck back inside for the next 10 to 15 minutes. You do this for two reasons, one, this is about how long it will take for another boat to show up, and second, this is how you keep yourself awake.  You can find yourself on the chart, but there is nothing there but water, and you may become painfully aware of how slow your progress is… I prefer not to participate in this exercise in the middle of the night.

Carey relieves me around 7:30 am and I head down for more sleep. I wake up a few times but nothing in me will allow me to rise or open my eyes, so I keep going back to sleep. I know Carey will wake me if he gets too tired. Finally I drag myself out of bed to find we are still motoring. Well, I knew this before getting out of bed since one of the engines sits right on the other side of hull from our berth. Carey has changed our course and we are headed for St Augustine, FL. We have run out of wind and are running out of fuel. The weather is just not cooperating.