As I thought about what to include in this blog, I recalled a saying that was on the psychiatrist’s door at the community mental health center where I used to work: “Blessed are the flexible, for they shall never be bent out of shape.” Well, I think that cruisers as a group must be pretty flexible, having always to wait for a “weather window” before heading to their next destination. Of course, their lifestyle lends to this, as most of them are retired and have the freedom to create their own schedule. Furthermore, they typically spend their days in exotic locales that appeal to them. Unfortunately, neither of these really pertains to us at this time.

Granted, we are extremely fortunate in that we do not have anywhere we need to be on a daily basis, but as we have noted in previous blogs, we are under pretty significant time constraints as we consider big-picture weather windows (i.e., hurricane seasons). In accordance with these, we had planned to be in Mexico by now, but as a result of the unplanned repairs and near-constant 20 knot winds, we are spending our 12th day in Fort Pierce, Florida (or as Tiffany would say, Fort Prison).

Fort Pierce is not exactly exotic. It has its merits in terms of resources for marine repairs and supplies, but in terms of culture and recreation, it does not have much to offer, at least within a five mile radius of the marina. Dallas and I were able to find an area of town that seemed to have a Caribbean influence with its brightly colored buildings and unique architecture, but I was later told that this neighborhood was a haven for drug dealers. Oops.

Anyway, I think it is fair to say that our flexibility has been tested over this last week. Tiffany, for one, has been quite a trooper. I know that it was not at all easy for her to cope with the fact that we were likely going to miss seeing her parents in Cancun, but she handled it gracefully. Her positive attitude was later rewarded when her parents changed their travel plans in order to meet us here in Florida. They are arriving tomorrow and will join us on our trip down to Key West. (Tiff would like readers to know that changing their travel plans was not a simple matter, as travel insurance will only allow you to make a change to your reservation in the event that someone dies or weather is impassable. Just FYI.)

Dallas has been coping in his usual way, remaining focused on what needs to be done in order for us to leave. (As a result, we should be ready to leave on Monday evening, just in time to catch the weather window created by the front that just passed through.) I tend to cope in a very different way, getting a little emotional at first, but processing it very quickly and moving on with the help of some sort of distraction. When it comes right down to it, I think that all of us require some kind of diversion to boost our spirits.

One such diversion has come in the form of our new single lens reflection (SLR) camera. It is a definitely more advanced than our prior point-and-shoots and should serve us well during the course of our travels. Wes, Tiff, and I fancy ourselves amateur photographers now, using the abundant wildlife around the marina as our primary subject matter. Here is a sample of our work thus far:

Pelican Statuette by Wes

Descending on Prey by Wes

Manatee Tail by Tiffany

Other diversions include Wes’ ethernet connection and board designs, Tiff’s long chats on the phone (at least we still have cell phone reception!), and some new foods from the galley such as homemade tortillas and other new concoctions that I made using the canned, vegetarian food that Dallas and Wes’ mother so generously donated. Hopefully this unexpected down time is serving to prepare us for the long passage across the South Pacific!       

I also want to mention that Tiffany and I took advantage of the opportunity to attend an event held at a local marina by a couple that just finished a six-year circumnavigation. There were several people there, but eventually we had the opportunity to get some face time with Annette and Edmund from sailing vessel Doodlebug. Annette was quite a charismatic, red-headed go-getter, and apparently it was she who initiated their trip around the world. She provided us with numerous practical suggestions on topics ranging from health and safety (e.g., don’t forget to brush your teeth and scrub your feet) to interpersonal interactions (e.g., don’t leave the peripheral vision of your men in Muslim countries, take inexpensive items such as beach towels and earrings to barter with the locals in the South Pacific). Annette especially piqued our enthusiasm for finding simple ways to make the lives of the islanders a little better. For example, she shared that a young boy had very grudgingly approached her to ask if she could give him a pencil, of all things. Needless to say, Pura Vida will be well stocked with pencils.

All in all, not a terrible 12 days, but we are hoping this will be the last blog from Fort Pierce!