Where to Begin?

  Ok.  So, I know it's been waaay too long since I've touched this blog but, there have been so many changes thrown at us recently I'm surprised we're not suffering from some sort of mental and emotional whiplash.  I will TRY to be concise in my explanations and do my best to convey the craziness that has been our life over the last few months.

  As you know, this year's hurricane season has been one of the worst on record.  It seemed no one was safe.  We had many friends that sailed to supposedly "safe" areas (so called because they are below a latitude where hurricanes occur), only to find that they were right in the path of not just one but multiple disturbances, tropical storms and hurricanes.  We, of course, were not immune to this either.

  As stated in our last post, we were still in Salinas, Puerto Rico when Hurricanes Irma and Maria decided to cut paths of havoc and destruction through the Caribbean and the lower United States.  Irma, for us, wan't too much of a problem. We did take precautions with the boat but, stayed on board and everything was fine.  The worst thing we had to deal with was internet issues for a few days which slightly affected my online teaching schedule.

  Maria, on the other hand, brought pure devastation.  Before she hit, not only did we remove and store all of the canvas and sails but, anything on deck that could be blown away and become a projectile.  We moved the boat into the mangroves nearby, tied off in the best manner that we could, set three anchors and moved ourselves and the cats into the hotel at the local marina.  We made it through ok but, we were some of the very few who did (see previous post).

   Many boats were not only damaged but, deemed irreparable or sunk.  The marina we were staying with, had all of their docks wiped out by a single boat, lost the roof of their restaurant, and had the first floor of the hotel flooded out (we were on the second floor).  Elsewhere, buildings and houses were stripped of their roofs.  Power lines and trees were strewn across roads making many of them impassable.  All communication was down.  Even the blades on the giant wind turbines were snapped off.  People were washing in the rain because they had no other means of bathing.

 

Yes, that's a giant propane bottle, formerly
supplying the restaurant

View from what used to me the marina bar

I was about 21 weeks along here

  In the midst of all of this, we found out that we were expecting our first child!  Yes, you read that correctly.  I am currently about 24 weeks along with a baby girl.  Since Puerto Rico's hospitals were only running at half capacity at best, we decided the best thing to do was to prepare as much as we could and head back to the States.

  We rented cars and borrowed rides (driving for hours) to find internet that was barely enough to send an email.  This allowed us to take care of many of the issues that occurred due to the internet being down; everything from online banking to explaining a massive amount of missed classes with my job.  Once we started moving back along the coast toward the south west corner of the island, we managed to acquire cash from a working ATM, fuel and what had to pass for provisions (bottled juice, peanut butter crackers, fruit cups, and the like).  There was no other suitable food available. 

 

Cued up in line for one of the few working ATMs on the island

All told we covered 1,130 nautical miles (more than 1,300 miles) in about 3 weeks before sailing back into Florida waters.  We stopped when necessary, checking in and re-provisioning in the Turks and Caicos (much better food selection there), and sailing through the Bahamas with the Q flag flying.

   We are now tucked in at Boot Key Harbor in Marathon, Florida.  We have managed to find a local OBGYN.  The baby and I are doing fine (especially now that we have access to healthy food).  I have been able to resume a full schedule teaching and even though its exhausting to get up at 3:30 in the morning (consider that I teach in China - big time difference), I am glad for the tiny bit of stability it offers.  We we even managed to cook a full Thanksgiving dinner on the boat, homemade pumpkin pie, turkey, the works!  We are still not sure if this is were we'll be for a while.  There, believe it or not, are a few more possible big changes in the works that need to progress a bit more before we make any decisions.

Our homemade feast

 


   For now, we are here and in a much more stable environment.  We are still trying to acclimate to a new, and ever changing, "normal" (whatever that illusive word really means) and, of course, do what's best for our coming addition to the family.     

     



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