And we’re back…
Well it’s Saturday morning and I am sitting in the most pleasant apartment in downtown Miami with a view of the city and the Port of Miami.
I arrived a little late after a great flight out of Pearson International. I had the joy of flying Air Canada Executive class this time thanks to Roger Ware’s generous donation of air miles. I must admit to being a little apprensive flying out of Kingston after the recent news of a Dash 8 crashing into a house near Buffalo, but needless to say we made it safe and sound. It was truly great to be well fed and watered and have a little leg room on the three hour flight down here from Toronto which gave me plenty of time to think about the coming couple of weeks.
For the next couple of days I’m staying with a women name Kerry Gruson (Corrected, very sorry Kerry) who is on the board of directors at Shake a Leg Miami. Shake a Leg is a centre around for disabled sailors, but also serves as a very valuable link to youth in the area, which jives nicely with our connection to the Boys and Girls Clubs. I’ll be writing a bunch more about Shake a Leg in the coming couple of days, as I’ll move the boat there as soon as I can get her in the water.
Kerry is a very cool women. Although bound to a wheel chair, she is a successful Sonar sailor with really big aspirations. (I’m told that she hopes to sail in every navigable patch of water on the earth, and from I know of her, she’ll do it.) Kerry is a writer by trade and is very well connected in the sailing scene down here. She is the type of women who takes in “strays” whether it be cats or lonesome Canadian sailors looking for a place to crash. (There were three of the former and the latter at her place last night, crashing on couches, cots, and the balcony…) I feel honoured to be one of those strays.
In the next few days I’ll be making my way through a rather large job list, trying to get the boat ready to sail as soon as I can. I still have some repairs to do after the last trip. Although I had a chance to clean up a bit after the last trip, I realized quickly how trashed the boat was as soon as I open the hatches for the first time in a couple of weeks.
I have already lined up a talk to a group of Sea Scouts that are down here sailing a couple of J24s out of Shake a Leg, so I am sure that I am going to have a full dance card between working on the boat and chatting with folks about the project.
Coconut Grove is hopping, with the Grove Artists festival going on at the moment as well as the in water boat show. The weather is beautiful down here, 25ish degrees and sunny, and it seems that the whole world is down on the waterfront enjoying the sun. Really wish all of the canucks could be down here too. I’m learning that there is a reason that everyone heads down here during the winter.
Generally, I’m feeling good about things, although a bit apprehensive about getting offshore again. There are so many things to remember and even something as stupid as running out of AA batteries can cause serious hickups in my plans.
Gotta get to work, more soon!
n
PS: For all of those that are wondering, the batteries were were hovering at 13.8V, exactly where they should be.