We have been very busy since we arrived in Panama City in July. After arrival we spent a week at the dock getting settled and meeting our neighbors. We discovered that everyone had a hurricane plan except us so we thought it was prudent to make one. Meanwhile, we unloaded Alaya and during the process Bob tore 240 degrees of his labrum in his shoulder. That resulted in surgery and weeks of therapy. He is definitely on the mend and should be 100% soon. We decided our hurricane plan was to dry dock Alaya since we would be in Arizona and Montana during the most prevalent months for a hurricane. We moved her to Pelican Perch in Pensacola and pulled her out. It was an overnight trip and really not much fun. We left around 5.00 pm and enjoyed a great sail and beautiful sunset. After that the wind died and we motored the rest of the way. Bob's was in tremendous pain and of course the engine started acting silly. It was a tough trip but we arrived in Pensacola Bay the next afternoon. By this time we couldn't keep the engine running so we were under sail power only. We hoped we could keep it running long enough to get her docked. We entered the bay and since we didn't have a chart of the area it took us awhile to figure out where to go but Bob (the expert navigator) found it. We sailed our way into the bayou. We saw a fuel dock so we decided to sail to the dock and fuel up. Unfortunately the wind did not cooperate so we did rub the dock but the goal was accomplished. The wind was pushing us into the dock so we cranked the engine in hopes she would get us to Pelican Bay. She didn't disappoint us and by late afternoon we were side tied to the dock . The next day Alaya was dry docked .

We went to Arizona to visit and celebrate my mom's 90th birthday in August. While we were sailing my brother and sister-in-law planned a surprise birthday party for her. I arrived early so I could make arrangements with the facility, order the cake, flowers etc. We hired a photographer to take some family pictures for my mom's present. Several of my cousins attended arriving from California, Nevada and Texas. Mom didn't know they were coming and Chase came too which really surprised her. We stayed about 3 weeks and then headed to Montana.

We stayed in Montana about 6 weeks visiting Chase and friends. Bob began his physical therapy there. We also spent the time packing our possessions. We loaded our furniture and stuff at the beginning of October and headed for Alabama. We rented a 26' truck and a 12 foot trailer and still had to leave the couch and our patio furniture with Chase. He was OK with that. We arrived here October 7 and since then have been unpacking and continuing to remodel our house here.

We found a screaming deal on a 4 night cruise on Royal Caribbean to the Bahamas. We were both jonesing for the open sea and decided it would be a great way to celebrate our 26th wedding anniversary. I must say it was very fun. They so spoil you and we could enjoy the ocean without any regard for navigation, weather or repairs. It is so funny how differently we viewed the ominous clouds on that ship compared to Alaya. Not the least bit of concern except for the loss of sunshine. We spent one day on a private island Coco Cay where we enjoyed the beach and swimming in the beautiful water. It felt like home. The ship cooked a magnificent lunch on the island. We were docked for one day in Nassau but Bob and I only spent about 3 hours on shore. The rest of the time we were at sea enjoying the entertainment, the great food and dancing. Wednesday night they had a midnight buffet and beach party at the pool. We had a great time line dancing, joining the conga line and ending with the limbo. We had a marvelous time and had wonderful dinner companions who we hope to keep in contact with.

We are having Thanksgiving dinner here and are looking so forward to Sherri, Kim, Kiri, Steve, Issac , Bruce and Betty spending it with us. We are trying to get the room downstairs completed so we have room and I am looking forward to cooking a Thanksgiving meal in a real kitchen. Steve is a great cook so I may even have some help.

We are leaving on Dec 5 to Phoenix to have Christmas with my mom. Chase will be joining us on Christmas Eve and my brother and sister -in-law will join us on Christmas Day. We will be returning to Andalusia on Jan 5.

We plan on making a few repairs to Alaya and putting her back in the water in January. We sure miss spending time on her and are planning our next trip. We are considering several options including the Med, Eastern Caribbean or returning to the Western Caribbean. We are still unsure of when we will go but one thing is for certain (God willing) we will be going.

Love to all - Happy Thanksgiving - Merry Christmas - Happy New Year and God Bless.