We'd planned on leaving Fort Myers today, and sure enough, we actually did. We had a bit of excitement last night though. Okay, story time. So a few years ago, we bought two dinghy davits. They did not reach far enough out away from the boat to hold our dinghy up while we were moving; We bought a new pair last summer. These did not fit either, but for a different reason. The bottom part of the davit, the part that is affixed to the deck of the boat, could not reach over the toe rail. My dad had to build a crafty pair of boxes that stood about six inches taller than the boat deck; He bolted those into the deck of the boat, and bolted the davits onto the wooden boxes, giving the davits a high enough perch to hold on to and still clear the toe rail. Last night, we pulled the dinghy up on board with the davits, and tied it off. I was being dumb and didn't tie the extra line to the boat, I just looped it. About ten minutes after we got everything all secured, the davits broke off of the boat and the dinghy fell to the water. I managed to catch the spare line before it slid off the boat, so thankfully no one had to go swim after it, and we pulled the dinghy back up on board with the use of our mast and boom.
(See, sailboaters? It DOES have a purpose!)
Today we're somewhere near Marco Island, though I couldn't tell you where. We are officially 115 miles from our destination. This trip has certainly been longer than was expected, but it will be nice to get to where we're going. Our friends on S/V Moonshine are going to be there in February, and S/V Kittywake sometime in February, too. I'm already trying to find a church to attend, and I have applied for jobs in the area.
My third-oldest sister just had her baby yesterday; It's a girl. My second-oldest sister is due to have her baby in mid-March, so we're flying out to South Carolina to visit her and my oldest sister. (Yes, a lot of sisters- There are five of us, and one brother!) Anyway, we're all set to be somewhere. Lilo is too.
Love,
Annakah on Kama Hele