In November we pushed off from the Chesapeake and as we were leaving Virginia Beach… we were surrounded by cruise ships, large Navy boats, it feels a bit like being on the highway on a moped. Our trip down the coast from Virginia was beautiful and delightful. We spent one night along the coast where there was a beautiful little cove with a lighthouse, Carteret. A hidden treasure along the coast.
We took a pause and pulled into Bohicket where we were greeted by dolphins at the entrance coming into the marina and two friends from Jim-Kat that were ready to grab our lines. There we enjoyed a few days in the marina with friends; going to the ice cream shop, popping around the cute little town, spending time enjoying the restaurants and then it was time to say our goodbyes and we sailed away, the dolphins led us out.
From there we pushed straight to Florida. We had the perfect sail… Filled with full moons, smooth sailing, butterflies, rainbows, chaperoned by dolphins. There were rockets ready to be shot off from Cape Canaveral, Jet Fighter Pilots having a dog fight. We were able for a bit to fly our Raven head sail; and before we knew it, we were entering back into Port Everglades.
We tucked ourselves back into the folds of Hollywood, Florida. It felt like we were back home as we reconnected with friends both at the marina, the boatyard and friends Chris and Tony that we met at TY Park. Then we left Raven safely behind as we flew back to California for our pre Thanksgiving feast and spent precious time with the family; played games, caught up and ate too much turkey. In a flash it was time to say goodbye and get back to our life on Raven and Florida where we enjoyed another feast with Chris, Tony and Tony’s parents. During our stay, other friends passed through; Mylene from National Harbor flew in for a business trip with the cruise ship industry and Mudit as he was on a layover passing through on his way to India.
When we pulled into Suntex marina we also arrived the same time as good friends we met in Harbor Towne while Raven was having her makeover; Stuart and Sondra on White Wings. When they sailed away in February I cried thinking were never going to see them again. Now here we were on the Broadwalk watching the Christmas parade and making plans this time to leave Florida for the Bahamas together!
December 8th we were headed back out of Port Everglade with White Wings on our stern and waving good bye to Chris and Tony as they drove from spot to spot. We were easy to catch as Raven held her position waiting for the bridges to open. And then from the shore as they were waving at us, and we were idling past giant cruises ships all chaos broke out. At the same moment we are ready to come through, not just one but three cruise ships were ready to leave the docks. The Coast Guard with their very impressive guns in hand are telling us to get back at the same time the cruise ships were radioing us to pass on the portside. Well, in the end we listened to the Coast Guard they did have the bigger guns.
