The next day we began to assess. Words cannot describe the dismay aboard the Wanderlust as we watche

After our trip to Odessa, Texas, we returned to the Wanderlust on December 13, 2007. She was safe and sound in St. Petersburg, Florida. Our goal was still to make it to Treasure Cay on Abaco Island in the Bahamas for Christmas. Our friends, the Perno family, had invited us to visit them, and the kids were really looking forward to seeing familiar faces from home. We had 12 days to get there from St. Pete, and it was looking only remotely possible. We hatched a plan. A 36-hour passage from St Petersburg would get us to the Everglades. Another day of motorsailing plaza hotel in las vegas and we could be in Marathon, in the middle of the Florida Keys. One more day to Key Largo, a good jumping-off spot for the day-long Gulf Stream crossing, and then 3 days through the Bahamas to Treasure Cay. Do the math. That's eight days. This was assuming we had North winds when we needed plaza hotel in las vegas them, and South ones when we needed those, and allowing only four days for provisioning, errands, plaza hotel in las vegas laundry, etc. Also, people have been known to wait weeks for the proper weather window to cross the Gulf Stream. Nearly impossible, we thought, but then we've done the nearly impossible before. . .
The passage from St Petersburg to the Everglades was better ("by some fluke", said Noah) than previous ones. We left at 7am from our wonderful Holiday Inn dock where we had enjoyed the pool daily. plaza hotel in las vegas We arrived plaza hotel in las vegas in the Everglades the next afternoon, tired but happy to be there. We anchored in the exact spot in which Bill and I had anchored 16 years ago when we took our first Wanderlust ( a 22 foot Southcoast plaza hotel in las vegas Seacraft) to Florida with our friends, Eric Hart and Pam Laser. The next day we motor-sailed to Marathon, Florida, in the middle of the Florida Keys. We found a harbor there that was like a boat city. There were 226 moorings, a water taxi, and a welcome wagon (we got maps, brochures, coupons, info. . .) The fee was only $20/night, and we had the use of the marina's facilities: Showers, laundry, a dinghy dock, ice, book exchange, and a pump-out service that came to the boat. There was also a cruisers net on the VHF radio every morning at 9am. All the boaters in the harbor could share info, ask for help, offer goods for sale or trade ("treasures from the bilge") and compare notes on the weather and the possibilities for a Gulf Stream crossing. We felt like we were home.
The next day, Thursday, December 20th, the news came over the net that the weather would be favorable for a crossing on Friday. The issue is the wind. If the wind is from the North, North East, or North West, it blows against the northbound current of the Stream and creates large, square, close-packed waves that must be avoided. The consensus among mariners is unanimous: Cross in a northerly breeze, and you may not live to describe the nightmare to which you subjected yourself. The forecast was right, so we planned our errands, did a major provisioning run, and started packing the boat for the Bahamas!
Alice and I were stowing a months' worth of groceries into various nooks and crannies aboard the Wanderlust when my cell phone rang. Noah was on shore with Benjamin and Bill, and we were waiting for them to return from their last few errands. He called to tell me that "Dad got hurt" in a bicycle accident plaza hotel in las vegas and they were on their way to the emergency room. They didn't need me to come, they had it under control, and I wasn't plaza hotel in las vegas sure how to get there anyway plaza hotel in las vegas as the dinghy was on shore and we were on the boat in the harbor. A few hours later the diagnosis was in -- a broken collarbone. A painful, slow healing, and crippling injury for a sailor. I hailed the water taxi on the radio, but they were closed for the night. Another boater heard me, and offered me a ride to shore. I went to collect them. No more Bahamas-bound for us, and all plans were null and void.
I brought Bill and Benjamin and Noah back to the boat in the dinghy. Bill found that most movements involving his upper body were excruciating, so clambering onto the boat was an ordeal. Nevertheless, as he was still full of the pain meds he'd been given in the ER, he managed it. The nurse hadn't even wanted me to take him on the water with all those drugs in his system, as he wouldn't be able to swim if he fell in. But home was on the water.
The next day we began to assess. Words cannot describe the dismay aboard the Wanderlust as we watched our weather-window slip away, and realized we didn't know when we would be able to move again. I was not prepared to single-hand this boat with an injured man and three children aboard. Bill tried to tell me we could do it if we just motored, but the meds were making him so loopy we took to calling him "Mr. Percocet" when he said something particularly nonsensical. He was fit in neither mind nor body. The prognosis plaza hotel in las vegas for healing a broken collarbone is 6 - 8 weeks. While we were devastated at the idea of spending the next 2 months in Marathon, we had no way to know when he might be well enough to travel and help with the management of the boat. There are many things on this boat that I am not qualified to be responsible for, and until he could regain some of his physical capacities plaza hotel in las vegas and all of the mental plaza hotel in las vegas ones (transition from Percocet to Advil) there was no way I would weigh anchor. All we could do was wait and see.
On Friday, December 21st, as Bill was resting and recuperating, Alice and I met the Kittle plaza hotel in las vegas family. Jeff and Sue are cruising with their 3 daughters (ages 15, 14, and 13) and 2 dogs aboard plaza hotel in las vegas a 34-foot Hunter. She heard us talking as we walked through the marina, and put 2 and 2 together. She had been reading our blog for months! plaza hotel in las vegas This blog! "Are you the Mintz family?", she asked. We started to compare notes, and found we had much in common. They were also waiting for a window to cross the Gulf Stream. They were also planning to spend time in the Bahamas. They were also home schooling. Jeff is a doctor and Bill was a patient. We made plans to meet for a pizza dinner plaza hotel in las vegas that night.
The cruising life is one of grabbing plaza hotel in las vegas the moment that presents itself and waiting for the opportunities you want. We all watch the weather and wait. Day by day we don't know if we'll be leaving or staying. We try to make sure we are always ready to go. And then, three days later, we need to provision again, fill the tanks again, pump out the holding tanks again, do the laundry again, all so that we will be ready again at a moments' notice. Our ability to plan had now taken on an additional unknown factor. But the Kittle family was in the same situation, and now there were other kids for our kids to hang out with, so we decided to make the most of Marathon.
The Kittles and the Mintzes made for a marauding band of ten. We found the library, the movie theatre, and the beach. We had the kids over for movies in the cabin. We compared notes and plans and tricks and tips. They were waiting for the weather to cross the Gulf Stream, and we were just waiting for Bill's collarbone to heal.
While we were waiting, Christmas arrived. As Jews, we have never had Christmas in our home, but we have always celebrated with my family, who do. It's an important holiday for us for that reason, but we have only ever been guests. The kids weren't sure how we could make it a holiday ourselves. Alice decided that she wanted her grandmother's Christmas cookies, so we called her for the recipes and went to the store to buy the ingredients. plaza hotel in las vegas She also wanted to have the Beef Stroganoff that Grandma always makes for Christmas Eve dinner, so we bought those ingredients, too. Noah wanted a Christmas tree, so he made one from paper and put it on the mast where it passes through the cabin on its way from the deck to the keel. He even made little ornaments and hung them with dental floss. We put out cookies and milk and 3 of Bill's socks just in case, and Santa found us! The next morning there was candy and a gift of a new game for the kids. And the cookies were gone. Santa always plaza hotel in las vegas loves Grandma's Christmas cookies. Next we showered, dressed, and went to town. There was a Christmas potluck at the Overseas Bar and Grill in Marathon, and we had turkey with all the trimmings. We occupied, with the Kittle family, a pool table that had been covered with plastic. Then we went to the beach, and the kids practiced their snorkeling skills. Merry Christmas.
Our plan for Wednesday, the 26th, was to take a bus to Key West for the day. Bill was going to stay home, but he had had a better night and was transitioning off the pain meds. I drove the dinghy over to the Kittles' boat, the Big Kahuna, to finalize the details, and they said they couldn't go with us, after all. The weather had turned around, and it looked like it was time to go. They were going to leave the next day with another boat to go north to Key Largo, and then cross the Gulf Stream on Friday. Bill and I conferred. He was moving around better, as it had been a week since the injury, and he felt he could take Advil instead of the loopy Percocet. The idea of traveling with 2 other boats added an additional level of comfort, and we didn't know when the next window would open. It was time to go. Alice and I went for another provisioning run. She helped plaza hotel in las vegas me tirelessly for hours, shopping, schlepping, stowing, and inventorying the groceries. We went to the fuel dock to fill up on water and diesel, charted our course, and went to bed. The next morning we were off at day break. Bill was taking 3 Advil every 6 hours, but at least he could sleep through the night and we said goodbye to Mr. Percocet.
We had a 14 hour day to Key Largo on Friday, the 28th. It was long, but not too challenging, and we motor sailed the whole way. Bill got a nap, I listened to my book on my mp3 player, and he caught a fish, a mackerel. We anchored that night, and then set off at 7 am to make the crossing. Three hours later we had reached the western edge of the Stream and we were miserable. And it looked worse out there. We all turned around and came back. We caught a beauti