Made it to Florida

As you all might have guessed we are in sunny Melbourne, Florida at the Waterline marina. I will fill in the blanks as to our wanderings in the next couple of days. There will be a change in the crew of the "Packet Inn" effective this week. I have decided to get off the boat and return to Trumansburg with my wife Karen. I really enjoyed the trip but missed my family, and power to run my sleep apnea machine was becoming more and more of an issue.

For those unfamiliar with life on a sailboat, it is like running a small city; you have to constantly monitor water, sewer and power. Unless you are running the motor constantly, just normal operations such as using the lights can drain the batteries in a couple hours. Water is also an issue when trying to keep sorta clean with "Navy showers"; you can drain the water tank pretty quick. Sewer is another area that requires close monitoring. Three people on the boat all using the head, well, you get the picture.

The trip will continue with Tom and George and possibly a third member. Basically the crew will go farther south (probably Miami) and go across the gulf stream to the Bahamas.

In the days since we made port on Friday, the crew has enjoyed the long shore leave, doing laundry, getting supplies, and testing out the local restaurants.

Tom and George have promised to feed me pictures and text of the rest of the trip, so everyone out there can see how it all ends up.