Jim, Kathy and Rachel are wonderful.
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| Jim, Rachel and Kathy Lee |
We had a wonderful time and S/V Jupiter's Smile had a safe place while we did things besides cruising for fifteen days.
Well ...... I take that back. Cruising is not all about boating. It is the living of a full life while living and traveling on a boat. That includes being with friends and family, sightseeing and also doing the everyday chores that everyone does whether on a boat or on land. We are not "boaters" because we live on our boat. We are not "live aboards" because that does not evoke the travel aspect of cruising. We are cruisers. We do not know what is around the next bend, but we know that we can get there on our boat. We can go nonstop or we can stop and smell the roses. At the Lee's there are roses.
What we did .... we enjoyed each other. Jim, Kathy and Rachel were all working, but we dined together often, either at their house, our boat or out on the town.
We biked, hiked, combed the beach, and I flew in Jim's aircraft. Here is a video Jim made while flying and then soaring his Phoenix motor glider.
See more at his website
http://www.phoenixairusa.com/
Kathy is substitute teaching in the Satellite Beach schools and volunteering at the public library and several environmental causes along with Rachel. Rachel is a junior at the high school, taking three advanced placement classes, playing the clarinet beautifully in the marching band and in the all county band. She is taking a class in Spanish on-line. She leads a full social life, gets great grades and will probably catch up on her sleep in a decade or so.
Across the street from the Lee's live the Glinski's, Tom and Cindy. In their back yard is the Hinckley Bermuda 40, S/V Feather. This beautiful vessel is fifty years old this year and has had a long and illustrious life that will continue for several more years and many more nautical miles under their care. I called my sister, Betsy at the Hinckley shop in SW Harbor, ME and she knew about Feather and all its prior names. Over cocktails, Cindy asked if we knew the big catamaran S/V Viva? "Do you mean Viva Bob?" "Yes!" "We love Viva Bob! We met him in Marathon, FL in 2008, again in Rio Dulce, Guatemala (stayed on his boat while Jupiter's Smile was in Abel's Boat Yard) and sailed with him to La Ceiba and Roatan, Honduras, in 2009. We love Viva Bob!" Small world! As our friend Roger says, "There are only twelve of us out there doing what we are doing, it seems." Certainly, that is an exaggeration, but the instances of repeated meetings with friends and friends of friends easily supports the six degrees of separation hypothesis.
While we were at the Lee's we got our "Little Buddy" heater!
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| 3900 BTU propane fired, indoor rated, shuts off instantly upon tipping. Takes the edge off the morning chill and keeps us comfy in the cold evenings. Highly recommended! |
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| Barb, Larry and Christina, Steve and Dan, Cathy and Gordon, Jay |
We had a very nice visit, playing hard and found time to purchase the little red table in the Little Buddy photo above ($8 at Ikea)!
Buying Little Buddy has made the weather in Florida turn warmer as well. We are looking forward to wearing shorts, tee shirts and sandals all the time now.
Time to move on. So long for now. Thank you, Jim, Kathy and Rachel. We love you!
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