Cutting the cord!

Hallelujah!  We're leaving the marina!

We might just go around the corner and drop anchor but at least we're cutting the cord and moving out.  We have several options.  We'll probably do all of them eventually so it doesn't really matter what order they happen in.  We'll just let the weather continue to dictate what we do, or rather, DON'T do.  Dry Tortugas, Middle and Upper Keys, and the Bahamas are the short list but we'll see how far we get.  We finally have Kipper's pet permit from the Bahamas so we just need to get him checked by a Vet and get a form from them.  The Vet form is only good for ten days so we'll have to commit to a weather window, visit the Vet, and get over there!  Fingers crossed...

Here's a few photos of what we've been up to in the meantime.  Sorry they got a bit fuzzy going from phone to email to computer to blog... there's probably a better way to do this...

Lot's of beautiful sunsets

Boat Maintenance

A nearby botanical garden has a collection of these Cuban refugee boats.

Pretty impressive ingenuity went into making some of these.  There were lots of wooden boats but also several of these foam constructed types.  Someone used tarps to give it shape and reinforced it with rebar.  That's the engine sticking out, borrowed from a Fiat car and mated up to a propeller!

We loooove our boat but sometimes miss the simplicity of camper van travel.

Seems like every time we turn around we're being taunted by a cool van!

Checked out the downtown art festival with friends, Dave and Wendy.

Cool tree

Amigos Tacos

Go here if you visit

We participated in the "Wrecker's Race" as crew on our friends, Joe & Lisa's boat, "Borrowed Horse"

Great fun!  It's a treat to see so many great boats especially the classic schooners.

They really fly!

Also, spent some time with family (thanks Christy, Paul, and Kitty!), got our tax docs off to our CPA, and some other constructive stuff while here.  All in all, time well spent.  It's been especially nice to meet experienced cruisers, gather information, and get all sorts of good advice.  It's a great community.

We'll continue to do more frequent updates on Tumblr, whenever we have phone signal.

Cheers to all!