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| Sam with Ryan at the beach |
Another month has gone by, and we're
still here in the Keys enjoying life. A highlight of our winter was
the arrival of our daughter Samantha and her family which included
three boys – Nathan 5 years old, Christopher 2 and a half and Ryan
who is now 8 months. They rented a place on one of the canals in Key
Colony Beach that provided access for our boat. We were able to tie
up to the dock in front of their house. What a great week! The boys
went fishing and caught several fish; they all spent time at the
beach in the water and building sand castles, in a pool and enjoying
one of the local parks. We took them to the Dolphin Research Center
to see the dolphins at play. It's one of the best places we know of
to get up close to dolphins and look them in the eye while they look
back at you. The two older boys especially enjoyed sleeping on the
boat each night. Times like this remind us how great it is to be on
a permanent sabbatical ( in simple terms – retired) so that we can
be here to share this paradise with our children and grandchildren.
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| People Watchers |
Now that we're into spring officially, a number of the boaters who spent the winter here have left already. Many
are heading east to the Bahamas while others are heading up the coast
of Florida to where ever they call home during the summer months.
We'll be here another three weeks before heading out. Our exact
route is still under discussion, but I'll report on that as the plans
become firm.
As an added note, a bit of a crisis has delayed a few
boats from leaving. A communications wire crosses the harbor
entrance at about 68 feet above the water. Apparently a boat with a
75 foot mast tried to go through causing damage to the boat and also
resulting in the wire dropping down more than 10 feet. This happened
a few days ago and is finally getting repaired today. A few boats
had planned to leave but must wait for the repair, since their mast
height is in the 65 foot range. Such things one only worries about
when on a sailboat.
