A lot has happened in the last month. We arrived in Fort Myers Beach and were able to get a mooring ball from the Matanzas Inn (Fort Myers Beach City Marina). Once we were settled on the mooring we took a rather long dinghy ride to shore to check in, where we met Dick & Kathy DeGrasse of Isleboro, Maine (they host the annual SSCA Gam there every August). The Red Tide was pretty prolific here so walking on the beach was not really doable. It was very windy and a little cool. We were able to get in touch with some sailing friends from our days in the Peconic Bay. Bob and Shelley Sue Williams are full time residents in Fort Myers Beach so they know the area well. We met for lunch by the beach and took a nice walk heading north. The next day Bob needed to go up the mast and get our wind instrument which has decided not to work anymore. I guess the fall it took in Stuart really didn’t help much so we sent it out to Raymarine for repair. It actually worked out better to just replace it so we should have the new one in Marathon when we get back there. Our friends Linda and Ron Farley have a beautiful house in Punta Gorda Isle and we spent a nice day visiting with them – and with Tom & Elaine Price, who happened to be visiting the Farleys as well.
On Wednesday, February 27thth, we brought Chanticleer to the dock at Salty Sam’s Marina in Fort Myers Beach, rented a car and started our drive home. We stopped overnight in Savannah (our favorite stop on this route), then made it home on Thursday. How strange it was to be home after 4 months on the boat!! Bob could not get over being in bed with lots of headroom!! The house was in great shape, thanks to our friends Bob & Julie Norman, who check on it regularly, water our plants and start our cars. On Monday, March 4th, we drove to Washington, DC, to see our new grandson Desmond. He is beautiful, of course, and we were able to spend 2 whole days with him and his parents before we had to leave for home ahead of an oncoming winter storm. We stayed overnight at our friends Tom & Lynn Osborne’s house in Alexandria (where we met their new Golden Retriever Brinkley) and rode the Metro in to Adam & Kathleen’s apartment.
We had a wonderful time at home, too, as none of our friends would let us cook dinner, we were able to catch up in person and it was really nice to see everyone. Pat also got her pool fix as she has missed it greatly, and Bob was back on track with his treadmill.