Underway soon

We rented a car for two weeks so that we could get to Tampa and have some spare time built into the schedule for unknowns.  As it turned out, we did not need the extra time and we return the car tomorrow.  That also means the cruise resumes and feet and bicycles become the methods of land travel.  We have been in this place way too long even though this is a charming city in which we could stay for a long time were we not cruising.  We are reminded that hurricane season is here and we should get north soon.  Our friends aboard Keeln Time are back aboard in Jekyll Island some 100 miles south of here.  They plan to set sail tomorrow and that makes it possible for us to meet them here on Wednesday.  Perhaps they can stay clear of lightening and we can head north together separated of course by sufficient distance so that if lightening does happen again, we won’t be near the lightening rod known as KT. 

The events of the past six weeks were trying for Bear and now that the repair has taken place, we are amazed at the success of it.  She is painless for the first time since leaving Key West.  The overall success depends on her taking it according to directions and taking it easy for the next 24 weeks.  It is a joy to see that that sparkle I referenced so many times is truly back.  We cannot say enough about the place that did the work.  While there, we met a family from the Amarillo area.  Dad and mom were both there for surgery while the daughter was the care giver for both of them.  Neither had been without pain for years until the visit. 

We started provisioning WK yesterday and during the process, we visited the old Charleston Navy Yard, where the CS Hunley museum is located.  Bear was not interested in seeing the Hunley so we rode around this facility once the pride of the Navy.  This yard dates back to the earliest days of this country but was closed in 1995.  Many of the buildings and homes  are of great historical significance.  The community has started redevelopment of the facility and private businesses are moving in.  The great thing is that part of the redevelopment is the renovation of the quarters that consists of grand homes once occupied by Naval officers and senior noncoms dating back a hundred years or more.  Good to see this history is not lost.

Our dock rental is up on Wednesday.  We sail on Thursday weather permitting.  We are trying to put our sailor face back on and start the preparations for getting underway.  That means all the stuff that has become “un-stowed” must find a place.  That might be the challenge of the month.   Of course, we start watching that little disturbance near the Azores.