Christmas and a count down to the new year, and a new destination

Happy New Year!

We have had a busy week as usual (I don’t actualy think Kevin knows how not to book up our time solid). We arrived in West Palm Beach just in time for Christmas. Some of our fellow kid boats were already there and we quickly heard of a potluck dinner Christmas Eve on the dock with many of them. We were excited to see everyone after our time away, but first we had to pick up some gifts that we had delivered to Fort Lauderdale and some last minute gifts we hadn’t had the chance to get yet. So, we rented a car for the day and made a quick trip down to Fort Lauderdale for the day. It was a whirlwind but we managed to get everything done that we wanted to and still made it back for the potluck. We met boats we had met before but new ones as well. It was a good way to lead into Christmas celebrations. It also meant that Kevin and I were up very very late wrapping gifts that evening. We had a lovely Christmas Day complete with our usual stockings, presents and turkey dinner. Halyna also managed to get in a kayak around the harbor and we all managed to get off the boat for a walk to check out the sites. West Palm Beach had a holiday festival set up in the town centre and ampitheater with a decorations, sand castles and rides.

The next few days we went for walks and runs in Palm Beach and West Palm Beach. Kevin and I ran along Palm Beach and checked out some of the most expensive houses in the U.S.. Then, we took the kids for ice cream and a walk. One day, we took a walk to a local park so Simon could test out his new boomerang. He was given a very nice decorative boomerang from his Nanna when she got back from Hawaii and he was disappointed to learn that it didn’t actually work. So, we got him a real one for Christmas. And it did work really well, but we couldn’t throw it as far as possible because the park we were in wasn’t big enough. Now we area on the hunt for a larger park area.

Of course, we also had to get some boat jobs in as well. We finally put Owen’s toilet in! It was a very long progress, as it ended up taking three days. The first day Kevin took out the temporary water pump that he had placed before that was shared between ours and Owen’s toilets. Then, he put in two proper water pumps, one for each toilet. He managed to get our toilet working again by the end of the evening. Which is good, because otherwise we were all using the little kids’ toilet. Halyna’s toilet stopped working properly just before we left for Victoria and so it is also on it’s last legs. We have bought a replacement and it will go in in the next few weeks (we hope). While Kevin was setting up the pumps, I was taking out the old toilet. We also decided to take the board out from under his toilet where it seemed that flies were breeding. It turns out the board was there to cover up a hole from, we assume, a previous toilet. Although what the hole was needed for is not clear. So, we had to plug it up. Luckily, we had an extra piece of fiberglass that we were able to use to fill the hole, with the help of some epoxy. We also had a lot of clean up to do to rid the floor of the fly breeding zone. All of this took the better part of the day. Halyna occupied her day by making eclairs!

The following day we were excited to actually put the toilet in. Kevin got it all wired up to the pump, and we drilled the holes to secure it to the floor. Then, we attached the water flush hose and put on the toilet lid. Our final step was to attach the waste water hose, but it was too short! We had suspected that his old hose would be too short, but we had a spare and it was 10cm longer, so we thought we were good. But even that was too short. So, we did everything but the final step. Owen had to go yet another day without a working toilet. However, the next day we got to West Marine, and got the correct length hose and finally got his toilet working. He is happy to have a fully functional, fly-free toilet and, you can barely notice that it was once in three pieces!

One of the things we were really looking forward to about our trip to Florida was visiting with another one of our ‘sister-ships’. We met this family (or part of them) in Annapolis before they got their boat because it was in Central America. However, now their boat is in Fort Lauderdale, on the hard doing repairs and refittings, getting ready for their sailing adventure. We are so excited for them! We arranged to meet up with them for the day. We saw their boat first. We find it fascinating to see the differences between our boat and theirs, despite it being the same model. Seeing the boat on the hard, also brought back so many memories from when we were on the hard down in Carriacou. It seems like so long ago. Fortunately, as time always allows, it is easy to look back on those times with fond memories, despite all the challenges we faced at the time.

We went out for a nice lunch and good long visit to a local playground. I think the kids got along very well. Norah was fascinated by their 9 month old son and Simon really enjoyed his time with their boy the same age as him. Kevin and the Dad had a good fill of ‘shop talk’ and even took a trip to West Marine while we were at the playground. We hope to meet up with the family again when they are on their boat and enjoying the water in the Bahamas.

After parting ways, we went directly to pick up the last of our waiting packages (our third VHF wifi box because they keep crapping out on us) and then onto Costco to provision. We have experience traveling through the Bahamas and Carribean with little food storage, and we know we would prefer to have the foods we know and enjoy. We seem to be getting pretty good at these provision runs too, because it took us less than an hour despite a very busy Costco and two carts of food. We rewarded ourselves with one last dinner out in the U.S.. Of course, it had to be Mexican food, because that is Kevin’s favorite. This is why we have finally decided that after the Bahamas we are going to make a side trip to the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico before we make our crossing to Europe in mid spring. After, we picked up soups from Walmart (soup is great for lunch or dinner while on passage) before heading back to the dinghy to load all our provisions on boat. It took three trips back and forth to between the car and Seasura. We are fortunate that there is good street parking in West Palm Beach, but it is on the opposite side of the road from the public dock, so it took more time than some of our other loading trips.

Our plans that evening were to spend the next few days, especially New Year’s Eve, relaxing and doing boat jobs waiting for the next weather window to head to the Bahamas. However, it turned out, the next morning when we looked, our next weather window was actually New Year’s Day! Consequently, we spent New Year’s Eve packing everything up, getting fuel, picking up more water filters and generally preparing for a departure bright and early the next day. We did manage to catch a glimps of the fireworks around town and we played a little with glow sticks just before midnight out on our trampolines to help celebrate the New Year ahead.

We hope our new year is filled with more sand and sun and less boat jobs. I hope everyone’s New Year is filled with joy and family.