A Bitter Sweet Moment

Caloosahatchee River, FL

26 42.81 N 081 35.83 N

It is a semi annual event in Tarwathie's routine to decide that we've traveled as far south in winter (or as far north in summer) as we're going to get, and that it's time to begin the migration.   It is a bitter sweet moment in all cases.   Bitter because we had fun in the past season and we hate to see it come to an end.  Sweet because we love the migration itself and because we look forward to the next summer/winter season.   So is the case today.  We were in Fort Myers.  Now, we reversed course and we're heading northward once again.

We planned to stay several days in Fort Myers.   It has  a good anchorage, a free day dock, and it seems to be a nice town.   We are a little disappointed though.   We went ashore this morning and the only thing we found within walking distance was office buildings, a Starbucks, and many yuppie lunch restaurants.  We found the Chamber of Commerce office and went there looking for tourist info.  There isn't much.   The only thing reachable was Thomas Edison's winter house.   I called there and learned that they want $20 per head for a visit -- too rich for our blood.    Therefore, we changed our minds and cut the visit short to 1/2 day.

We also have a mechanical problem.   Our cutlass bearing is worn out and we suspect that the shaft log is coming loose on it's mount.  I'll write more about that another day.   The key is that we had planned to stop in Deltaville, Virginia on the way north to put the boat up on the hard and repair it.  However, it now appears that the problem is growing worse day by day.   It would be very imprudent to set out on a 1200 mile voyage, or to travel offshore, with that fault.  The problem could suddenly become catastrophically worse and create an emergency.   Therefore, I'm going to try to arrange to go up on the hard in Fort Pierce next week and we'll address the problem directly.

Two weeks from now we need to be in Vero for Libby's final doctor appointment this year.   Four weeks from now we need to be in Fernandina Beach to meet our grandkids, Nick and Sara who are going to fly down to spend a week with us.   Dear oh dear, there's nothing worse than time schedules to put a sailor in worry mode.