Surprises, Good and Bad

Stuart, FL

27 11,91 N 080.65 W

We're back in Stuart. The side trip across Florida was a fun diversion. We're really glad we did it, even if we did miss the Edison House.

Of course, we keep track of our cruising friends. We care what happens to them and we hope for the best. Today, we got surprising news about two couples; one good and one bad. I won't give their names or too many details of their stories because they may prefer to do the telling themselves.

The good news first. One of our favorite couples on a W32 had serious engine problems. I've been try to call them on my cell for a couple of days and got no answer. I feared the worst. I feared that they had to haul their boat up on the hard and to remove the engine to repair it. When we got back to Stuart today we asked other friends of theirs what happened to them. The news was that their engine is repaired and that they are on their way northward. Hooray.

Another couple that we see several times per year had switched from crusing on a boat to land cruising in a RV. We joke about them going over to the dark side. Well, we got an email from they today. Their RV was destroyed in a fire! Oh no! They lost the RV and all their worldly possessions all in a few minutes. What a disaster. Fortunately, the local folks where they are have responded with great generosity and aid. Also fortunately, nobody was injured. However, just the fact that they could be wiped out so quickly is stunning.

Tomorrow I'll explain our mechanical problems.