Recently it dawned on me that, on the blog, I've never shared the back story to the beginning of this adventure. Blogging has been challenging in Miami, and it seems that every time I reach for the computer I end up jumping in to a new experience and leave the post for another day. This city is on fire with the white hot heat, and there are countless amazing people to meet and things to do. There is an up and coming art district, great friends to show us around, basketball games, beaches, bars and most importantly, boat work to do. So let me back up this train, or rather boat, to shed some light on where we are now.

Mom and Tom arrived in Miami March 20, and officially moved onto the Fille de Joie Friday March 22. We were hot on their heels, landing just five days later with the smaller cat in a bag. We knew we had an amazing boat and adventure in front of us, but none of us really knew what was in store for us. Outfitting a brand new boat is not something any of us are familiar with. We all genuinely thought we'd spend a short time in Miami, say a week or two. We entertained the idea of Jacque joining us for the voyage to the Bahamas and genuinely thought it could be possible. She visited the 2nd week on the boat, and needless to say we were far from ready to go. Everything always takes longer than expected, so as I write this we are still here in Dinner Key Marina. The work is complete and we finally have a weather window so we can leave tomorrow and begin our journey through the Bahamas. This last month has truly been a lesson in patience and tolerance, to say the least.

The Fille de Joie is literally brand new, commissioned in France and sailed to Miami where the finishing touches took take place. While there was a ton of provisioning that we as the crew had to do, there was also a lot of work to be completed by Florida Yacht Group who brokered the deal between the French Fountaine Pajot group and the Beckers. I have to say thank goodness we've had the chance to live on the Fille and catch all the little things left undone from one hull to the other!

The discovery of a missing holding tank on the port side of the boat, i.e. the guest quarters/ Nail family side was one of the first major issues. We'd discussed the fact that the marina has strict holding tank regulations, and assumed the two holding tanks commissioned for the boat were getting the job done. As it turned out the port side tank was missing completely! This was the beginning of the waiting game. Fortunately it afforded us plenty of time to discover everything else that was not quite right. Problems with the Garmin radar system, and the missing windshield for the helm enclosure were two other major problems we discovered.

Frustration mounted as we watched numerous weather windows open and close stuck on the docks of Dinner Key. But in the end these misfortunes turned out to be both a blessing and a curse. Yeah, "they" dropped the ball; big time! But how do you hold them accountable and ensure that the work is completed and completed well? Working with marine subcontractors is difficult, especially when your main contact is an oily salesman from a Floridian yacht brokerage who doesn't give two sh**s once you've paid him. But the bright side to this dark cloud is that we've had the time to get to know the Fille, figure out what's missing, and to hold them accountable. We also happen to have been stuck in the perfect place for our tastes, the Coconut Grove. With delicious restaurants, friendly people and lots of beautiful parks, each of us fell in love with the place in our own way. So as we prepare to leave, finally, we are simultaneously excited to go, but sad to leave which is how I prefer to close any good chapter in life.

As I finish this post we are patiently waiting for the windshield to arrive, and plan to head to No Name Harbor on Key Biscayne tonight. That way tomorrow morning we can jump off bright and early and make our way to South Bimini to clear customs in the Bahamas. I'm so stoked to begin our crossing and can't wait to see what the next few weeks will bring!