Feb 25, 2002 Marathon, FL

Dear Gang,

No, we didn't disappear from the face of the earth. We've just been busy and fighting health bugs. Ken spent a month fighting bronchitis, then I picked up a miserable cold. No fun, but certainly easier in 75-80 degrees than 30-40.

We arrived in Palm Beach Gardens/Lake Worth on Dec 7. I just checked my records from our original trip in '99. That year we arrived in Lake Worth Jan 7, a 3 month trip from RI. This year it took us only 2 months, greatly due to skipping the Chesapeake all together and by going offshore from Cape May, NJ to Norfolk, VA.

Our friends, Pam and Jeff, on Foggy Mountain, a Valiant 40, had left from our marina in RI in Nov of 2000 for Bermuda and The Caribbean. After Sept 11, they decided to return to The States. Via email, they said they would spend Sept in Grenada, then sail directly to The VI's, then nonstop to FL, probably making landfall at Lake Worth. While making offshore passages, they talk daily to Herb in Canada. Herb is a retired weather buff who is on single side band every afternoon for 3-4 hours talking to 15-20 boats from Canada to The Caribbean. He talks daily to boats making passages offshore, advising on weather and safety conditions. Hundreds of boats listen in every day to keep track of conditions and plan their own trips accordingly.

So I started listening to Herb to find out where Foggy was. I picked up their initial transmission each day when Jeff would begin with their Lat/Long position which allowed me to track their progress. Dec 11, I said to Ken, "They're just approaching The Gulf Stream, so should hit land sometime between 9 and midnight tonight." At 7:30 PM I started calling Foggy on our VHF radio - which will reach about 30 miles offshore. About 8 PM, I heard Pam returning my call from offshore. They had no idea we were in Lake Worth waiting for them and couldn't imagine someone would be calling them. Actually, Jeff said he was on watch in the cockpit and watching TV. So he woke Pam up and said someone is calling us, get on the radio.

It was great seeing them and we spent the next 3 weeks together. Dec 19th we sailed with Foggy to Ft Laud and spent several days anchored in Lake Sylvia, just behind Pier 66.

One day Pam and I got loose from the boys, and wandered down Las Olas Blvd. and into an upper scale used clothing store. Pam made me buy this fancy, long, black, deep cut, backless, sexy outfit. It probably had sold originally for $200-300 and looked like it had never been warn. I talked the woman down to $25. Even though I realized I would probably never have a chance to wear it, I had to have it. When Ken saw it, you could see him thinking, "Oh, no! How much is it going to cost me to take her someplace to wear it? And worse, I'll have to wear a jacket!!"

On the 23rd, we headed for Miami and Coconut Grove for Christmas with another RI boat at Dinner Key. Don and Rowena on Persuasion are from Newport and used to be right next to Foggy at the other end of Ken's dock. On the 23rd, the wind prediction was 20-25 out of the east-se. I refused to go offshore when I considered just getting out the inlet, which would not be fun in those conditions. Foggy's mast is too tall to stay on the ICW so had no choice and had to head out, while we motored on the inside. When all was said and done, we both arrived in Miami about the same time. Their trip had been terrible, with winds hitting 30-35, steep seas and covered with salt. They were dead tired. Our trip was comparatively easy, with little boat traffic, but took a while due to waiting for several timed bridge openings. We also hit the shallowest portion of the trip at dead low tide with Tow Boat US sitting there waiting to pull boats off - and charge big bucks. However the gods were looking favorably on us and TowBoat US was disappointed.

Christmas dinner on Persuasion was a great turkey and ham buffet, served on their best china. It was very convenient to use Persuasion and the marina for dinghy landing and not have to use the town landing where so many homeless live.

We did make one dumb and dangerous mistake while in Coconut Grove. Even though we've all heard about people wandering into the wrong neighborhood, Pam, Jeff, Ken and I went for a walk one day and wandered out of the Grove. As the surroundings changed, Pam and I suggested turning back, but the boys insisted we were fine (and we were looking for a grocery store). Presently, a police car pulled along side and asked if we knew what we were doing. He said even the locals were signaling to him to get us out of there. He told us to head for the light, turn right, and 3-4 blocks would get us back to The Grove. He would stick with us. It was very apparent to us and everyone else as we passed through groups on the sidewalks, that he was escorting us and they better leave us alone. We were most relieved (and chagrined) when back in safe surroundings.

Ken and I left Miami Dec 30 and arrived in Marathon late afternoon on New Year's Eve after a rainy, windy trip. We were scheduled to take our slip on Jan 15th, but Ken got so sick we went in a week early so we could turn the heat on and get out of the windy harbor. He was one sick puppy for quite a while.

Other than health, we've been enjoying our time at Sombrero Resort a second year. My mother and Ralph came once again, staying at the resort for a week then in Key West for a week. I joined them in Key West for a few days where Ralph made sure I was wined and dined appropriately. He even made sure I had a chance to wear my new outfit. We won't discuss how much that night cost, but hopefully it came out of his kids' inheritance and not mine.

Then they dropped me off at the boat on their way to Pompano to spend another week with friends. Pam and Jeff, who had taken a slip in Palm Beach Gardens (Pam got a job there with the company she had worked for in RI), drove down for a couple of days.

Sat. Ken's daughter, son-in-law and three grandsons arrive for a few days, then I head to Ft Laud to spend a few days with my cousin Carole. On the way back, I'll rent a car, pick up a friend at the Miami airport and bring her backto Marathon for a week. Then, we'll sail to Key West and probably head to The Abacos in April. The boat will stay in FL this summer, Ken will go to RI for a while and I'll be home for the summer.

Drop us a line, we'd love to hear from you.

Jane and Ken