As I write this, we are safely across the Gulf Stream and are spending the day resting and getting ready for crossing the Little Bahama Banks tomorrow. The weather should be spectacular for the next week and we will be exploring some of the little uninhabited Cays in the northern Abacos.

But the fun began while we were still in Florida

The trip down the ICW from Stuart, Fl. Was very interesting in that we had to navigate our way through 19 bridges between Stuart and North Palm Beach and another 21 bridges from North Palm and Fort Lauderdale. Very expensive homes and even more expensive boats lined both shores of the waterway.
Along the way, we had the chance to visit with old friends and relatives that we hadn't seen for some time.

Our dear friends Richard and Temple Forment, who's yawl Artemis is bravely facing the ice and snow of Portsmouth, Virginia, raced down to our slip at Old Port Cove Marina to exchange the chilling winter weather for the opportunity to assist us in getting Southern Cross ready for the 2014 season. It was a wonderful time of work and friendship. Artemis is scheduled to begin cruising the Chesapeake this spring and then on to Maine for the summer.

We had not seen our cousin Mickey Ford for many years and we found that he lives only a few miles from our slip. We spent a very enjoyable lunch catching up on his family and his life in Florida. Mickey gave us a tour of his home town a few days later and treated us to lunch at his favorite Mexican Food restaurant. We really enjoyed being with him and we will be making the effort to keep in touch.

Last January we realized that our old inflatable dinghy had reached the end of the road. We were in Marathon on Boot Key in Florida and were at a loss for how to replace it. Gary and Joanna Wollenberg, aboard the yawl Bozo Cinq, were replacing their dinghy and sold us the old one. (It was a good deal and we used it all over the islands last year.) They sailed on to Grenada but fell in love with the Turks-Ciacos and bought a home there and it seems we would never see them again. But on a recent beautiful afternoon, Toni bumped into our two old friends walking in the marina. It was a chance meeting and we had a nice conversation on Southern Cross before they had to fly back to T-C. Joanna ends her emails with the phrase "friends are priceless". And so they are.

Also last year, as we returned to the US and waited on the weather in West End, we met Kenny and Claudia Higginbotham aboard their trawler Yacht Sea. These two are also the kind of people that are friends from the beginning. We were looking forward to cruising together this year, however, as they were leaving Scottsdale someone offered to buy the boat and so they would not be able to join us. Fortunately, they were in Fort Lauderdale as we arrive to stage for the crossing, and we spent a wonderful afternoon with them as Kenny and I talked aviation and Claudia and Toni talked about kids and family. Although their plans will take them away from the islands, we surely hope to keep this new friendship alive. Thanks for the poutin and hot dogs!

Let the cruising begin!