Sunday, February 07, 2010 Lake Worth Fl

Well we’re still looking at the weather charts and listening to forecasts for tonight and tomorrow. It’s Endeavor lift off morning and Super Bowl Sunday.

We got up at 4:00am to watch the launch but it was canceled due to clouds in the area until tomorrow morning at 4:14am. So, we’ll get up to watch it and then check out the sea conditions to see if we’ll be heading over to the Bahamas or to ports further south like Fort Lauderdale or Miami. It looks like tomorrow will be the last weather window for another week.

This has been one of those “weather” to stay or go type trips. At home you never think much about the weather except for what to wear on any given day (is it cold or is it hot?) but on the boat, life revolves around weather – literally. If you don’t pay attention, it can cost you. Sometimes, dearly… So you sit and wait.

Waiting for a weather window. What is it like? How long do you wait without losing patience? It’s interesting to sit here waiting. Listening to other boats that are waiting for that weather window too. When to go? When not to go? Each boat and each crew are unique, different… Some boats handle wind and waves better than others. Some crews handle the conditions better than others. Some live for the thrill of waves slamming over the bow and growling at the wind. That’s not us – we’re not adrenaline junkies. So with no T.V. we sit and read books. I work and play on the computer when I have excess electricity. If I have Internet access, that’s a bonus – I don’t feel as isolated. We check the weather, and do boat chores. If the dinghy is available, we go to shore and explore, but when each day might be the day to go, the dinghy is not available. I hate it when the dinghy is lashed to the deck and I know that I can’t leave the boat. I start feeling trapped. Multiply that for almost 3 weeks, of thinking we’re going to leave each day, and Wayne says it’s like living with a caged tiger.

I was wishing that I could get off the boat. I’m feeling quite cagey at this point, and Blue Pearl radioed to ask if we’d like to join them for lunch? With an offer to come pick us up, I could feel myself dancing in circles! We went for lunch at the Tiki Bar. This is at the Riviera Beach Municipal Marina. They have great sandwiches and I really enjoyed the company of Blue Pearl (Glen and Pam) and Azaya (Mary and Axel). We chatted about our various plans and pretty much all decided that we’d had enough of Lake Worth and were going to use the weather window tomorrow to head across to the Bahamas or south towards Fort Lauderdale. Both are “doable” in the span of 10 hours or so. The winds are supposed to have a slight northerly component that will continue dying down throughout the day. So the Gulf Stream shouldn’t be churning up against us. We’ll see. If they’re not slamming us – we’re off to the Bahamas. If they are, then we’re off to Fort Lauderdale.

Back at the boat we made final preps for an early launch after the space shuttle lift off. A quick email to family letting them know our plans, so that if we don’t make contact with them from one place or the other, they can send out help (a float plan).