Sail Cutthroat

(and other stuff)…December 2009

It’s been a long arduous fall since my last blog in August upon leaving Cutthroat securely docked in San Diego. I can report to you that Mom Wag is doing much better – it was very touch and go throughout August, September and through most of October…at least until her 80^th birthday bash where 80 of her family and friends helped her celebrate at the Venice Yacht Club. It was a great affair and since then, she seems to be doing very well. We’re all glad for that especially since it now allows us to resume our life and move forward as we start a new chapter, or at least turn a page.

Our good friends, Chuck and Cathy…neighbors from when we lived in Carlsbad, CA convinced us that since we wouldn’t be off on the boat for months on end what we really needed was a dog. Now, I have been adamant that there would beo more animals – actually, Roger shares that opinion. It’s too hard to travel; I’m allergic to dogs and cats, etc. So on October 12^th, our good friend Carol flew back to Florida from San Diego bringing our new puppy, Diego (get it?). First of all, Mom has been advertising the advantages of our having a family dog for years and years – how it would add years to her life; that she would take total care and control of the little critter – he really wouldn’t be a bother but rather an asset. Second, I’m not allergic to Diego – he’s a Havanese and one of the truly non-allergenic animals out there – REALLY! Third, we live in a “dog” neighborhood. I mean everyone has a dog! Walking the dogs in the morning is a regular social event at Boca Royale. It is how you meet people. If you’re not walking the dog, you are driving them around in the golf cart. Diego loves the golf cart. I think he heard about that mode of transportation from the other dogs. They really do communicate. When one starts to bark, you can hear the others chime in. Diego was invited to his first party at the end of October. Our next-dog-neighbor, Schnapps – a little miniature long haired Dachshund celebrated his first birthday and Diego was included on the guest list of 10 other dogs. With the addition of Diego, every house on our street now has a dog. He is very cute and a good diversion for life without Cutthroat. At least that’s my thinking. Roger may have a different take on this, but it’s my blog! Diego is definitely additive to our life in Florida!

We returned to San Diego in late October to gather all our personal belongings off of Cutthroat and make her more presentable to a new owner (no, there isn’t one yet, be we’re hopeful). The broker was very happy for that. Like selling your house, it always shows better without too much “stuff” taking away from the natural beauty. Whatever, we got our things off and hauled it all back to Florida where it now sits in the garage until we figure out what to do with it. After 5 years of mostly living aboard, it’s not hard to imagine what all can accumulate – dive equipment, books, tools, galley items, booze, tee shirts…the list goes on and on. We were vigilant in taking only the valuable and memorable things. As there was too much to mail and not enough to warrant a moving van (what a scary thought), we rented a large SUV and drove back east. OK, so nobody said we were very bright. Before heading east, we went up to LA to attend our friend Mikey’s 70^th birthday party weekend. Maureen did an awesome job of making this a very special event and we got to visit with many of our “yachtie” friends from Puerto Vallarta where they still keep their boat, Aaron Sawyer. On our return trip east, we stopped in Dallas, TX for the night at our youngest son Rob and Kaki’s . That was an added plus, and we got to spend some much needed one on one time with our granddaughter, Averi. She was getting ready for her 7^th birthday in a couple of days too. What a great visit!

Leaving Dallas we did another straight shot to Englewood arriving home at about 7:30 AM just in time to unload the SUV and get it to the rental return at Sarasota Airport before the witching hour of 9 AM when we would have been committed to paying another day’s rental fee. As it was a hefty fee, that sucker was getting turned in! Driving through Texas is a long, boring part of the trip. I measure our progress by counting Dairy Queens and Popeye’s Fried Chicken stands along the way. Unfortunately, much of this leg was done over night and they were closed. I can honestly report that I only got one DQ fix and scored 0 on the chicken.

Shortly after returning from San Diego (like 5 days), we left for the British Virgin Islands for a 10 day charter of a catamaran out of Tortola. Upon turning in “Cheap Thrills” (what a great boat name) back to the Moorings with a lengthy list of maintenance issues, we spent another 4 days at the beautiful Peter Island Resort. If you’re looking for a stress-free, tropical hide-a-way, this is the place. Our dear friends, Pat and Carol and Boat Bob and Marilyn joined us. We had a great time and it was the perfect way to end our latest BVI adventure.

As I’m typing away, we are flying back to Tampa after spending three days in New York City where we attended the shooting of a Rachel Ray TV show. What a hoot! It was a lot of fun and a different experience. The guy who is more or less in charge of the audience (us) and tells you when to clap and holler and then when to stop sort of latched on to Roger and Pat whom he referred to as the “Muppet Men.” They were quite outnumbered (like by about 20 to 1), and the fact that they were sitting next to each other and probably looked like they were from outer space in comparison to the group demographic, I guess caused them to stand out? For whatever reason, this guy kept going back to the Muppet Men for questions and comments. He was obviously having some fun at their expense and at one point reminded Roger that it was his show and to leave the joke-telling to him. The show is supposed to air on Thursday, December 17. While we were in town, we also saw a performance of “Wicked.” For me, that was the highlight of the trip. What a superb production!

It was frigid cold while we were in New York with the temperature dropping into the low 20′s this morning with a killer wind chill. I’m glad to be heading back down south again into warmer weather. And, I’m ready to stay put in little Englewood for awhile. As a matter of fact, reducing our travel schedule is my biggest goal for 2010. We’re going to try very hard to log more days at home (or at least in Florida) than away this coming year. We’ll see how that goes. I doubt many of you who follow our blog would put money on that outcome…

We wish all of you a very joyous holiday season and of course good health and prosperity for 2010. As I look at the names of the emails where this blog goes, many of you are so very far away living your dreams in all corners of the world. What diversity in the friendships we have made over the years! It’s so very inspiring to hear and read your stories of travels and families. Please keep sending them. Also, please say a special prayer for the men and women of our armed forces without whose service and sacrifice we couldn’t enjoy the freedoms we have and the lifestyle we all live.

Until we write our own next chapter, best wishes from Roger and Elise to each of you.