s/v Field Trip

We’ve crissed and crossed the gulf stream 4 times. Notorious for being challenging and at times down right dangerous – we made our best crossing as a family. The challenge? We set a date and place – Nassua Dec 22 for flights to Nashville. Never set a date and place far in advance when sailing. It almost always adds stress and causes potentially unnatural decisions to make the ‘date and place’. The key?  Patience & flexibility. We stayed in North Palm Beach for almost 2 weeks. 12 days longer than planned. Plans change. Our watermaker died and the weather was persistent out of the NE, E.  The good news, Beard Marine was excellent. They found the problem – our ‘Energy Transfer Device’ ($4,500) died. The better news, it was covered by warranty and Sea Recovery upgraded our entire unit to the new model a no charge. The new model is supposed to be more ‘bullet proof’ than the old design. We were thrilled. We also took the time to connect for drinks with ...

Here we sit, in a marina in North Palm Beach, Florida, to get our watermaker back on track.  It is only one of many things we are doing before making the leap to the island life once again.  Mark and I were remembering what it was like the first time we set foot on the East Coast of the US, after being in Argentina and the Caribbean for months.  We still plainly recall how it felt to walk into the nearby Bed, Bath, and Beyond store.  I'm sure everyone wondered what rock we'd crawled out from under as we rejoiced about all the choices and the good quality along every aisle!  Our cries of excitement formed a chorus of "oohs and awes"that caused other shoppers to stare.  We had walked blocks and blocks of Buenos Aires, searching for bedding and linens that paled in comparison to the walls of fabrics offered in this monstrous consumer smorgasbord!  Thankfully, we'd rented a car, so we could pack it full of all of the indulgences that America offers, unlik...