We flew out of Washington on 20th October very excited about seeing everyone with a route and visit plan designed for maximum coverage of friends and family. Davey was staying at Mum’s doing his officer’s exams and Ruby came to stay for the weekend of his 21st Birthday. This was the first time we were all together for nearly 2 years so a real treat. Auntie Ruth had travelled from Fife Scotland to stay with us all and we had a wonderful time all together and with a lovely big gathering of the Wilkinson Family too. After 10 days we dropped Ruby back to Heathrow and set off on the road trip. Chepstow first then down to Dartmouth via James’s Mum’s in Devon. It was wonderful to see everyone and have a proper catch up, but of course, it’s never enough time and we couldn’t see everyone that we wanted too.
We had realised that Ruth wasn’t very well while we were with her but at 91, she seemed to be pretty good and we just worried she may have some minor illness going on. Sadly however, as we left Dartmouth to return to Mum’s in Southampton we got a call to tell us that having gone to the GP she had been immediately referred to the hospital and test had confirmed that she had a terminal illness that could not be treated. We immediately changed plans and after 2 nights with Davey and Mum we set off for Scotland to see her. Ruth was delighted to see us and remarkably cheerful, she felt that after the initial shock she was glad to have the time to say goodbye to everyone and to sort her affairs out, she wanted no treatment beyond that which would make her more comfortable. She was most concerned to do all of her Christmas shopping and had not discounted visiting my sister for Christmas.
Sadly, she was not able to come to the family reunion that had been planned around my sister, Fiona’s, 50th birthday. We left her with great sadness and although felt it was possible I wouldn’t see her again she insisted that we should go and I planned to return as soon as she became more ill and stay with her when necessary.
The Birthday celebrations were great with almost the whole family together minus Ruby and Davey which was unavoidable but sad. Lindsay had also had a birthday that we had planned to spend with her but had had to miss so that was made part of the party weekend. Fiona and Bruce did the usual wonderful job of housing and feeding everyone whilst still managing to party as well.
After that it was back to Mum’s, 2 last nights with Davey then flight back to Washington on 22nd Nov. Sian and Pete were coming to join us for the trip south and we had been invited to join in the Thanksgiving celebrations at the Yacht club. This was, again, an incredible feast, lots of fun and a warm welcome back. We left the following day on 25th Nov. The weather was very cold and we all had to wrap up and stay inside the boat as much as possible. We had planned two stops along the Potomac then another in the Chesapeake before we got to the start of the ICW in Norfolk. We had anchored for 2 nights and on the third night, Saturday at about 8pm the phone rang and I could see it was my sister. I sort of knew what this news was going to be and feared Ruth had taken a turn for the worse. In fact, after feeling ill all day on Saturday she had died just after midnight on Sunday morning very peacefully at home with two friends with her. Shocked as I was I had to feel grateful that she had not had to go to hospital or become incapacitated and dependent which was her great fear.
As an executor of her will I needed to get home ASAP to help my sister arrange the funeral and organise her estate. The quickest I could do this was on Monday night. We got to Deltaville on Sunday, hired a car, drove back to Washington on Monday and I was on a flight back to Heathrow. One plus was that I got to see Davey again. Lindsay and I drove up to Torryburn, Scotland on Wednesday to get everything sorted.Going into the house for the first time ever without Ruth being there with a pan of soup waiting was very difficult and really brought home the fact that she was gone. Ruth, being who she was, had planned and paid for her funeral which meant that we didn’t have to make all the choices on her behalf, however, there was still loads to do and, as is the way with funerals, not much time to do it. We had great help from our cousin James and between us got it done. Strange that so soon after the last family get together we were all together again but for such a sad occasion. Ruth had been a huge presence in our lives and without children of her own had made all of us her children and been a wonderful, fun Auntie. She had been a really enthusiastic supporter of our trip and I sent her postcards from each new country, island or US state or city. These had all been stuck up in her kitchen and I would ring her regularly with a travel update as she wasn’t able to read the blog. We had talked about her coming to visit when we were in the Med as she loved the boat and always took any opportunity to come out on the water. I will really miss her unwavering support for everything I have ever done, her enthusiasm and excitement about our trip and her calm, wise and considered advice whenever it was asked for.
I travelled back to Leeds and stayed overnight with Fiona, caught a coach to Gatwick which took 7.5 hours, stated in the travel lodge in Gatwick ready to fly out on Monday morning. I flew from Gatwick to Iceland, then on to Baltimore US for an internal flight to Charlotte in North Carolina. Tony, James’s cousin picked me up, I have to say I was very relieved to see him, and took me back to their house. James drove up on the following day and we spent another night there so that we could really catch up with Tony and Alison which was lovely.
Finally, on the 15th Dec we drove to Southport NC where James, Sian and Pete had managed to get to on their trip. The weather was cold and we were desperate to get south to warmer climes and to be on our way to the Florida Keys were we wanted to spend a few weeks over Christmas and New Year. We planned to make a 2 night trip to Jacksonville where our friends Marcus and Margie were stuck after a terrifying incident when they lost steering and hit a bridge causing damage to their mast which was going to need to be replaced. We had strong winds all through day and night one and through day 2. As dusk set in on our second night the wind dropped off and we decided to put the engine on. It had been an uncomfortable trip as the sea was big and we had been rolling around horribly. We had run the engine for no more than 20 minutes when suddenly there was a sudden dreadful grinding noise and we immediately switched off the engine with a feeling of dread. No engine, gearbox issue we thought, hardly any wind, so we had to slop along at 3 knots all night and wait for Towboat US to tow us into an expensive and tatty marina near Jacksonville to await an engineer. The only good things are that friends Margie and Marcus were here and it was much warmer.
M&M came out to see us that night bringing food and good cheer despite their own worries. An engineer was working on another boat and came to look at our gear box, quickly confirming James’s assessment that it had come away from the engine but hoped that not much further damage had been done. He even hoped to get to us the following week if the parts arrived and if not was working between Christmas and New Year so hopefully we wouldn’t be waiting too long. The Marina we had been towed to was horrible however, quite expensive, no facilities and a long way from Jacksonville and Marcus and Margie. Having been assured we would not need lifting out of the water to make the repairs we arranged with Towboat US to tow us into the Marina with Island Kia.
On Sunday 18th M&M came and picked us up and took us back to their marina which was a lovely place and we joined them in a BBQ with friends they had re - met, new friends they had made and a couple of marina locals. It was a lovely day, warm and sunny, good fun and made us feel as though life was looking up again. We stayed the night on Island Kia which although looks sad on the outside with no mast, inside is as cosy and welcoming as ever. On Monday we were back at BB at 8am for the trip down river through the bridge Island Kia had hit plus a couple more before the marina. A near disaster with the shore power lead that had not been detached before we left the dock but Chase, our tow Captain, showed his considerable skill and experience and got us back near enough for James to jump ashore, unplug and jump back on with no damage done. M&M had turned up trumps again by giving us their dock at Ortega River Marina while they went to anchor as the marina was full and we would not be safe at anchor without an engine. What wonderful people, such kindness and support we felt very lucky to have met them. We arrived with no issues and it was lovely to feel we were somewhere comfortable and supportive for as long as we needed to get fixed.