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We awoke on April 1st contemplating the significance of our
first official day as "cruisers" having fallen on
April Fool's Day. We hoped to have the boat ready for a departure
in mid-April under a full moon. However, as it typically goes
with boats, our remaining projects took longer than planned
and unexpected items kept popping up.
We hosted one last party on Caribbean Soul. It was
hard to imagine leaving behind such a great group of friends.
Hanging out on the boat in Corpus really wasn't such a bad
life after all. Everyone was wondering if we'd ever leave.
We set yet another departure date, April 30th, and began saying
our goodbyes.
The final days before departure were a mad rush of wrapping
up projects, selling the cars, and provisioning the boat.
The rigger literally finished his work five minutes before
we backed out of the slip.
Our good friend Jan Buskop, captain of Kiva and experienced
sailor, had volunteered to accompany us to Florida. The time
had come to leave. With teary eyes, we gave Jan's wife Terri
a final hug good-bye. Nick turned the ignition key. Chug-chug-spltt!
The engine wouldn't start. We looked at each other in disbelief.
Nick tried again; the engine sputtered and died. Nick flipped
on the electronic fuel pump in case some air had gotten in
the fuel line, turned the key, and the engine roared to life.
Sigh! Florida here we come!
(Thanks to Ron Hebert for contributing photos to this page.)
After knocking his noggin on our hard top
at the last party, Ron comes prepared this time.
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