Greetings to our family and friends,
It's the middle of January, the Christmas tree just came down, and we're finally sending our holiday letter. I suppose that is some indication of how things have been lately. However, we're happy to report that Nick and Deanna ended 2002 still healthy and employed. Dakota is healthy but remains on the dole, relying on good looks and charm to earn his daily kibbles.
We tried to do our part to support the flailing travel industry in 2002. In January, we spent a long weekend in San Francisco. We toured the on-the-water maritime museum at Fisherman's Wharf, watched the sun set over the Pacific at Point Reyes, visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and enjoyed an evening with Jill and Frank.
In May, we followed in the footsteps of Ernest Hemingway and Jimmy Buffett by journeying down to Key West. We spent the Memorial Day weekend with Kent and Allison, former neighbors in Bulverde who moved to Florida. We toasted the holiday in all the famous Key West bars (I don't think we missed any). During a thrilling sunset sail, Nick took the helm of the AmericA, a replica of the "legendary low black schooner" for which the America's Cup was named. Poseidon decided to have a little fun at our expense, however, drenching the four of us with a rogue wave that splashed over the bow where we were sitting. At Mallory Square, we watched the sun melt into the horizon while a street singer serenaded us with "Southern Cross" and "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay." From Key West, we headed up to Key Largo for several days of SCUBA diving. We meandered through beautiful spur-and-groove coral formations where we saw a huge loggerhead turtle, several sharks, eels, and scores of brightly-colored fish. We ended the trip in Fort Lauderdale, a city we both liked very much.
In August, Deanna officially passed "over the hill," dragging her heels kicking and screaming all the way. To celebrate (or rather, to provide a distraction), we spent a week in Maui. We enjoyed three days of great diving around the Molokini Crater and Lanai. We saw numerous white tip and gray reef sharks, green sea turtles, eagle rays (including an orgy!), a variety of eels, an octopus, and plenty of colorful fish. Nick recorded our underwater adventures with his new digital camera and housing. Deanna rubbed the velvetly head of an octopus and got quite the surprise when she swam out of a cave headlong into a passing turtle. On yet another sunset sail, Nick took the helm of America II, a contender for the 1987 America's Cup. Fans of the movie "Wind" know the boat as Geronimo. We celebrated Deanna's birthday at a luau, where Deanna danced on stage with other birthday girls, brides, and uncoordinated women whose mates thought it would be amusing to see them look silly in public. We spent our last day driving the Road to Hana, famous for its breathtaking views, waterfalls, and one-lane bridges. In Hana, Deanna caught a ride on a motorized hang-glider for an aerial tour of the spectacular windward coast.
That was the fun stuff, but we were also fortunate to survive a few near-disasters. In March, Deanna was awakened one night by a peculiar popping sound and glowing light on the deck. "Nick, what's that sound?" Nick leapt from the bed and raced out the door in a flash (yes, Nick does have a turbo mode). Our deck was on fire! Nick extinguished the flames with a garden hose and our house was saved.
In July, the San Antonio area was drenched with several feet of rain. Video of houses floating down the Guadalupe River made the national news. Fortunately, we live on top of a hill and stayed dry. Caribbean Soul was at Canyon Lake, which doubled its water volume in just a few days. The boat, and the marina, floated up with the water level and was unharmed. However, we had to take a ferry to visit our boat until the water finally receded in September. (We've since moved Caribbean Soul to Corpus Christi, where she now sits in a boat yard and our project list grows longer every day.)
See pictures of Caribbean Soul and Canyon Lake
As the year ended, we took the plunge to make significant changes in our lifestyle in the hopes of someday achieving the cruising dream. With any luck, we'll have some progress to report in next year's letter.
We wish the best for all of you in 2003. We were fortunate to see many of you in 2002, and we hope 2003 will also provide opportunities to reunite with our cherished family and friends.
Nick, Deanna, and Dakota
