Florida!!!

Yes, we made it!

We are in Jacksonville in northern Florida, enjoying the hospitality of John, Teresa, and Eulah. Maggie lost the use of her back legs gradually over several days, culminating with complete loss on Nov 21, the day we arrived in Jacksonville. It seems she had a spinal disc problem which was taken care of by surgery which John had arranged for before we arrived with a local vet surgeon. She should make a full recovery, but she has a 6 week recovery period during which she must be confined and given therapy twice a day. Since this was virtually impossible on a sailboat underway, John found us an empty rental property to live in for this period, so we will be in Jacksonville through the holidays (a good thing, don't you think?). We are indeed fortunate to have such good family in a time of need!

We had planned to have some maintenance done on the boat here, which has been mostly accomplished with new bottom paint, as shown with "before and after" shots you see here. We found no damage from hitting the loose piling in Norfolk VA, so all looks good.

We plan to continue south to Miami and the Keys and the Bahamas after the first of the year, and then back to RI in the spring. But we cannot express enough gratitude to John and Teresa for their help and hospitality in Jacksonville. Family is indeed great!

Please keep those comments coming to let us know what is going on with you. It always gives us great pleasure to hear from you!

Jerry and Robert