Feb 13-15: Miami International Boat Show

We spent Valentines Day and the Captain's birthday in Miami at the boat show. This was a city-wide event, with Strictly Sail occupying the bayside marina in downtown Miami...all sailboats and all sailboat gear vendors...uh oh. We drove up to Miami Friday night and were at the gate when it opened. The Captain being an experienced boat show participant, we bypassed the tents and went straight to the boats on display. First stop, Island Packet, to see that sweet 485, just in case we win the lottery this week. Others that we toured included 40 foot+ yachts by Catalina, Tartan, Hylas and Passport, as well as several custom yachts that were for sale. We returned on Sunday to tour all the catamarans on display, including a 70 foot model offered at 5 million that charters for 50K/week, crew tip not included.

The weather was beautiful, sunny and in the 80's. We interspersed boat tours with passes through the vendor tent, enjoying the shade, cool drinks and picking up a few "can't live without" items along the way.




The marina was completely full of shiny new sailboats with all manufacturers flying their flags from the rigging. We wondered where all the usual slip occupants were...






Goobing for the camera at the Gill booth with new floating sunglasses. A justified purchase...I was on backups since my good ones broke.

We liked the classic beauty of this yacht....a wood varnisher's dream!


This was a 76foot custom yacht offered at 1.2 million. The stainless and granite galley was the size of our salon!

My hand barely fit around the standing rigging.


Latitudes & Attitudes is a magazine that caters specifically to cruising sailors. Bob Bitchin is the founder and a monthly contributing writer. We stopped at the Latts & Atts booth and were tickled for a photo opp with Bob himself.





Latts & Atts sponsored a party Saturday night with the Eric Stone Band. Below, a party wench. Where is a wide angle lens when you need it?
Also, a T-shirt with the motto of many Latts & Atts cruisers and the band playing sailing tunes.
















Thankfully, the Captain meets the criteria. After a full day and evening of activity, we stop in Bubba Gump's for a beverage and dinner. Have you ever had a pomegranate margarita? Perfection in a glass...my new favorite. Note to self: add pomegranate liqueur to the provisioning list.




It was a great weekend and we drove home Sunday evening to the best sailboat of all, S/V Hakuna Matata.
The Admiral

Feb. 6-10, Taxes....we got people!

On Feb 6 we flew my dad down to help us with our taxes and spend a few days aboard Hakuna Matata before we leave at the end of the month.

On Saturday we decided to get him out on the water for a little "Key West Style" fishing and sailing. It was a bit rough with winds in the 20-25 knot range but with dad being an old salt and graduate of 2 gulf crossings this was not a big deal for him!

On the way out to the gulf stream dad had the first hit and landed the first fish, a nice mackerel....right after we got this one aboard we notice we had a second mackerel on the other line that we also brought aboard!

Approaching the gulf stream the waves really started to build. We had 8-10 foot seas!

Not long after we got into the gulf stream we hooked our first Tuna aboard Hakuna Matata.

We also caught a few Mahi Mahi along the way so it was a tough decision to have either Tuna, Mahi or Mackerel for dinner.....the Mahi won out.

On Sunday we decided to spend the day in downtown Key West. We walked Duval, the Marina areas and stopped at the famous Sloppy Joe's Bar for a beer. We then ate lunch at the famous Caroline's restaurant on Duval and went down to check out the cruise ships and other large yachts down by Mallory Square.

To the left is me and dad at Sloppy Joe's having a beer and to the right is a boat preparing for a wedding at the Key West Bight Marina.

Monday we decided we better take a day off from the "fun" and finally get dad to help with my tax stuff. Dad finished that in short order and since he had not done a project all weekend we had him design and make bag holders for our new folding bikes. These allow bags to be attached to the rear racks on the bikes so when Angela goes to the store down in the islands she does not have to also carry the bags of groceries.....Craig will be patiently waiting at the dingy!

Here is dad making custom brackets out of Aluminium bar stock from Home Depot.....they turned out great of course!

On Tuesday we had to say goodbye and dropped dad off at the Key West airport (so much better than driving to Miami).

It was a great weekend and thanks so much dad for the help on the taxes and spending time with us down in Key West.....we had a great time with you!

The Captain

February 5th

BRRRR....it is cold here in the Florida Keys this week! Highs in the 50's with winds sustained 20-30mph, making it feel much colder. Heaters are on and every polartec garment is out and in use. The captain started radiation treatments this week and that is going pretty well. We are usually in/out of the center in 10 minutes. It makes him tired in the afternoons, but other than that, no ill effects.

The doctor said that adult beverages are OK in moderation but that other patients have said that beer makes them sick. No beer. Together we decided that the spice flavor in Captain Morgan's might make him sick. No rum.

What else to do but turn to a tried and true favorite!

Matt and Linda Norwood of S/V Worth W8N4, our next door neighbors in Marathon, who drove our truck down to Key West when we moved the boat down here. They had an errand in Key West last week and took us to dinner at Friday's. Living in Marathon, it has been a long time (years, perhaps?) since we have gone to a chain restaurant.

Good times with good friends. Thanks Matt and Linda!



I spent HOURS searching the internet for the perfect trim for my K-mart fake ultrasuede pillows. The salon will be fabulous when I am done, despite not a scrap of petite English ivy...

We have struggled to find non-skid mats or flooring for the heads that are truly non-skid on a boat in motion. Craig can shop the internet better than anybody, and look what he found. These are custom teak grates...easy on the feet!

(aft)

(forward)

All in all, things are going well. We are scheduled to complete treatments 2/25 and are shooting for a March departure.

Happy Birthday to sister Candy today! Looking forward tomorrow to a long weekend visit from Craig's dad.

Key West Living.....Jan 29th, 2009

Well I have not started radiation yet. I did a consultation with the doctor on Monday of this week, down here in Key West, and did a simulation run (where they marked my body for the machine) on Tuesday. Start the "real thing" this next Tuesday and will have treatment each day for about 15-20 days. Each treatment is only about 7 min. and I will have the weekends off from treatment.

We arrived in the Marina in Key West last weekend on Saturday. We settled in and on Sunday we headed to downtown Key West. During our visit we decided to purchase two folding bikes. These bikes fold down to the size of a small suit case and can be stored in a locker so they are great for the boat. They will be very useful down here in Key West, as well as, in many of the island towns we hope to visit soon. We are also taking advantage of the new "Chopperettes" to get in better shape by riding for at least an hour each day.

The new "chopperettes" & riding down town Key West.

Today we decided to take the boat out and check out the waters around Key West and do some fishing. It was sunny today, with light winds and temps in the high 70s so we did not sail much but did have a nice day out on the water and did come up on a few fish!

Here is a pelican resting on one of the channel marks on our way out the channel from our new marina and a turtle we spotted on the way out to the fishing grounds today.

We talked to a charter boat captain this morning from our marina that indicated the tuna and mahi were biting off the Sand Key Light so that is where we headed. Under mainsail and a little engine power we headed out into the gulf stream, into about 200 feet of water and started fishing, 8 miles southwest of Key West. After a couple of hours we found the Mahi! The first hit just off the Lighthouse at Sand Key Light (just as the charter captain had informed us) and while I was reeling him in on the first rod, the second rod got a hit and Angela was also pulling one in. After I landed the first, Angela was just bringing the second to the side of the boat when the line broke. These fish jump in the air and try and spit out the hook or break the line (they are very good at this) it is quite a show.

Angela fighting her Mahi and Craig with the one that did not get away!

We turned the boat around for another pass through the school of mahi and just moments later got another hit. This time I got the Mahi up to the the boat, but with a jump he was gone. Disappointing for sure but these fish are so much fun to fight just for this show of jumping clear of the water.

We gave up early afternoon and headed back in knowing that we would have plenty of fish for dinner.

Mahi fillets ready for dinner this evening.

That is it for this week.....recovery is not a bad thing as you can see...we are dealing with it well!

The Captain

1/23: Come on baby, let's get outta here...go hang out in Key West for a while...

No pictures today but a quick update on our status.
Craig's cancer type is the least aggressive and surgical pathology showed that it was contained to local tissue. This last week the captain had a chest xray and CT of the abdomen/pelvis to evaluate for metastasis. These tests were completely clean!! Since this type is described in medical literature as "exquisitely sensitive" to radiation, current standard of care is to proceed with radiation to eradicate any microscopic cells that might not yet show up in the lymph nodes on CT. It is typically 20 treatments, administered daily Monday through Friday.

In a nutshell (ha!), localized seminoma+negative tumor markers+negative CT+radiation = 98-100% effective cure.

The captain has an evaluation appointment at the radiation center Monday afternoon. The closest radiation center is in Key West. Oh, darn. What else to do but move S/V Hakuna Matata to Key West so that we do not have a daily commute. So, we are on our way back to Key West, at anchor tonight in Bahia Honda State Park which has been one of our favorite hidey holes in the area. Although we would like to be at anchor or in a mooring field for the month, we decided that a marina might be better suited for treatment or if I have to fly. We located a spot in Stock Island (see prior post), not quite Key West proper, but only 7 minutes from the center, ample parking and not as crazy expensive as downtown KW this time of year (north of 2K/month for this size boat...yikes!)

As soon as treatment and recovery are complete, hopefully the first week or two of March, we are headed way south. At this point, the only decision is whether to turn back east to the Bahamas and cruise down the path as originally planned, or do we reverse course, blast over to Cozumel and do the western Caribbean??

January 15-19, 2009

Not much has been going on down here in the Keys over the last week but recovery continues to go well. We did have a doctor visit on the 15th and they removed the rest of my stitches and gave us the final pathology report. The tumor was cancer but from what the doctor can tell us at this point it does not look like it has spread and it is not a extremely aggressive tumor type which is all good. I have a cat scan this Wednesday to verify this, but even if it is clear it looks as if I will be doing radiation for about a month.

There is not a radiation clinic here in Marathon but there is one in Key West. Since I will have to go everyday we have decided to move the boat to Key West for the month of February during the treatments.

This last weekend we drove down to look at a couple of slips that were available and for rent. The marina is located on Stock Island just min. from Key West and the radiation clinic. It looks like we will try and move the boat to the new marina this weekend. Here are a couple of pictures from our "recon" mission this weekend of the new marina.

Angela has also been working on a few interior decorator projects. So we now have a couple of new rugs, one in the main salon and one in the galley area. She also purchased some new pillows for the main salon to add color. Here is a pic of the new rug and pillows in the salon.....very exciting stuff!!

Not much else to report here in Marathon....guess our next report will be from Key West......at least we will be moving on!!

The Captain.

January 11-13 Key West

We weighed anchor around 1030am for the next leg of the journey to Key West. Another beautiful day but winds were too light to sail, so we motored and entered the harbor around 3pm. The channel is very busy with all manner and sizes of vessels...

Big B, Little b,

What begins with B?

We felt sorry for the touristas in the swanky hotel behind the cruise ship dock..so much for your water front balcony with sunset view!

Image to the left is SV Hakuna Matata at anchor in Key West harbor.

Image to the right is our view from the anchorage of Key West looking at Mallory Square.

Nothing better than a sunset (or moon rise, for that matter) for relaxation and mental therapy. We were in need of both....

We tooled around Key West on Monday...the usual sights, sounds and activities, plus a trip to the barber for the captain after my last attempt at tapering and the ear guard incident. In true Key West fashion, this "typical" old style barber shop (shoppe?) served multiple purposes. In addition to man hair cuts, they sold semi-automatic weapons (no purchases) as well as a colorful (read: colors not found in nature) array of hair extensions for the local sistas.

Rock on...one of the best examples of grafitti we have seen.

A sunny day with unusually favorable winds for our direction of travel, 12 knots from the west. We hauled up the main in the harbor and began our journey home. A pelican fish feeding frenzy on the way out of the harbor would portend things to come...






Nothing disturbs the quietude of a refreshing sail like the ZZIINNNGG of a trolling line. At first we thought that perhaps we had snagged a crab pot. Craig took the pole and I took the helm. The fight was definitely on, and after the perilous battle, Captain Craig was victorious!!

Size does matter, one of the biggest we have landed.






Upon return to our slip, the Captain takes a knife to the beast and makes a new friend in the process.

January 10, 2009.....escape from doctors

We had a disappointing followup visit at the doctor yesterday as we were all set for the pathology reports but upon our arrival found out they were not finished up yet. Wanted to have the "plan" in hand in regards to what was next and how serious the tumor was but now we have to wait til next Thursday.

They did take out half of my stitches and the doc said I was clear for showers (big one for me) and any activities I felt up to. I immediately asked about sailing and he said, "fine".

So we were feeling down not getting the report as we thought we would, but thought hey we do not have anything to do until next Thursday, we have a boat and a "free pass" to sail from the doctor.....so we decided we would leave today and sail down the Keys to Key West over the next couple of days.

Loaded up with groceries this morning and headed out. Great day of sailing with winds 10-15 knots, sunny skies and temps in the high 70s.

Sailing away from the doctors in Marathon and feeling pretty good about being back on the water.

Our view today on the way to New Found Harbor (1/2 down to Key West From Marathon) and Angela takes the "saddle" to watch for lobster traps.

Finally sunset this evening as well as the full moon arising in New Found Harbour......it has been a great day of recovery.

How to recover on a boat.

Well recovery is going pretty well. Have good days and bad and still sore but getting around. Weather is great, sunny and in the 80s so it is not a bad place to be for recovery.

So what have we been doing?? Well last night right as I was brushing my teeth for bed and the water pump died.....yes, deep 6 and nothing was bringing it back to life. On a boat without the water pump working you have no water from the faucets. We would have to fix it for sure but not last night.

In the morning we came up with the plan for the fix. Since I cannot bend or get down on my knees and stomach right now Angela was going to have to be my hands. So I directed and she installed.

To the left, Angela crawls into the hole and pulls out the bad pump. To the right is the dead water pump.

Then it was to West Marine to buy the new pump and they even had it in stock! Score 1 for team Hakuna Matata today.

Angela with new pump installed on top of the accumulator tank and bolting it back in place.

Then it was onto the check and yes it worked! Score two for the day....we can now shower and brush teeth again!

The second project of the day was the new Bose System for the salon that came in. This is something that we have been wanting (I am still a AV nerd at heart) but decided it just was not worth the expense. Since we got delayed with my current problem we decided over Christmas that this would be the consolation prize. When I emailed my good friend Casey today he said, "wow guess you had to give your left nut for that one"! He was almost correct as it was not the left but the right!!

Pics of Angela checking out the new system......it sounds sweet!!

So that is our day of recovery today.......all in all a good one......got to go now and watch movies!

The Captain

Admiral's Note:

Many of my friend girls ask how I got so handy with wrenches and such. Here is what you do:

1. Buy a 50 year old house. Accelerated plan if it has been a rental property and/or only one bathroom at time of purchase.

2. Dont' have a boyfriend and have your daddy living 1500 miles away.

You will be amazed how quickly you too can develop home/boat repair skills...

A.

January 4:Postop Day2

The surgery went well. The pathology report is still pending as frozen section biopsy was deferred. We will get the path report Friday at our postop visit. During the procedure, the urologist incidentally found an inguinal hernia and repaired that with a teflon graft. The general surgeon, who we initially saw in December and happened to be finishing a case himself, saw Craig in preop and was on the scene for that repair. Sweet.


As you know, the salon setee converts into a queen berth, so that is Craig's nest for the time being. He is generally feeling good, up and about and eating well, with even a short visit to the cockpit yesterday afternoon. His pain is well-controlled with the generous supply of Percocet, although getting up tweaks the incision pretty hard. He has been keyed up with the Percocet and is finally sleeping solidly today. Craig remains wildly hopeful for a complete bed bath with me in a saucy nurse get up. Dream on, precious captain! :)

For those clinically oriented:
This presents a strange case so we are anxious for the final pathology report. The ultrasound that started all this showed heterogenous echo pattern and vascularity for which malignancy could not be ruled out. No well-defined tumor, per se. The tumor markers are interesting. LDH mildly elevated, consistent with energy requirements for any tumor. However, the bHCG and AFP, specific to germ cell tumors, are stone cold normal. These are all done not only for staging but also as a baseline, with the expectation that they drop dramatically after the tumor is removed. So, there is nothing to drop. ??

With all this and other small details/decisions to date, we are hopeful that this is either very early in a malignant process, or some kinky nonmalignant tumor. However this works out, we are grateful that the hernia was found. I can't imagine being deep in the islands or on a passage and and having a little gut ache turn into incarcerated bowel loop.

All in all, we will keep you posted. We are so thankful for our family and friends and for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers.