to Family and Friends

Hi Everybody,

I was thinking this morning and I have decided to write one more blog about our travels on High Spirits.  We have been either working, sailing, and living on High Spirits for about 29 months of the last three years.  This final month represents a closing of one part of our sailing life and we are going to move to  another sailing situation.

NEW PLANS

So here is the plan for at least the next year or so.  We are going to take advantage of our family house in New Hampshire for summers and winters.  Joy still loves to snow ski in the winter and we want to be able to use the  lake with our children, grandchildren and friends.  I enjoy working with the New London  IRS/AARP Tax Volunteer group.  We do about 500 tax returns a year for low to moderate income families with emphasis on seniors.

We will still sail on High Spirits in the fall and spring for now, just not for such a long time period. We plan on keeping the options open to return to the Bahamas in the winter, perhaps every other year.

FAMILY NEWS

Not sure everybody knows that Jill and Matt ( she is our middle child) are having their first baby around the third week of May.  So we are making arrangements to see them more over the next year or so, including Joy visiting them before the baby is born.

Jill's other news is that she accepted an admission offer to Harvard University starting in July 2014, one year delay.  She and Matt will be moving to Cambridge/Boston area for her one year program.  After that, who knows.  Not sure how this affects Matt's position at Columbia, but we will find out when we see them.

HATS OFF TO FRIENDS and FAMILY

I wanted to list some of the people we have met through sailing over the past year, or friends and family that came and stayed with us on High Spirits.  So not in any order, mostly by their boat cards if we got one.

FAMILY

Jen, Mark, Erin and Adam - came to Hopetown, Abacos, Bahamas for a week of living with us on the boat and staying at the hotel.  We had a room and a dock at Hopetown Inn and Marina and it worked out perfectly.

 Erin (6) slept on the boat for the first three nights and then we think she discovered that her parents room had cable TV with, rumor has it,  400 channels from England and the USA.  She learned to swim a little without any water aids, plus loved to fish with Nanni(Joy's name).  She had a blast riding in the front seat of the golf cart we rented to go to Tahiti Beach one day.

Adam (3) also loved the water, exploring for shells on the beach and just doing everything everybody wanted to do. He is a very good swimmer for his age.  Talks a mile a minute.

OLD FRIENDS

Four sets of old friends came to stay with us on High Spirits.

Dell and Jean - from Cleveland, Ohio.  Church friends for over 20 years.  Stayed with us in Marathon, Fl

Nick and Sue - oldest friends since the late 1970's.  Our two daughters are turning 40 this year and  were in nursery school together. They stayed with us in Green Turtle Cay.

Madonna - spent two weeks with us up in Maine and in Canada ( our car trip)

Steven - college friend sailed Maine with us to Bremen, Maine

 SAILING FRIENDS ALONG THE WAY THIS PAST YEAR

Steve and Linda on Yesterday's Dream ( old dock mates from E55th Street Marina in Cleveland)
Peggy and David on Wanderin' Star
Debbie and Butch on Swee' Pea
John and Helen on Aqua Mirus
Dick and Margaret on Alize
Corky and Anna on Kabria
Larry and Annette on Island Breeze
Gary and Janet on Lee-Ann
Mike and Chris on Missing Link
Jeff and Marilyn on Still Crazy
Bob and Barbara on Rob Ra Anne
Jim and Joey on My Pleasure
Phil and Sara on Spartina
Bob and Carol on Southern Cross
Dan and Ame on Mad'Em Cait
Mike, Michelle, Joshua and Bradleigh on Bay Tripper
Pam and Skip on CU@C
Johnny and Doris on 'Bout Town



I am sure I missed some people but we want to thank everybody who crossed our path and travelled with us, played dominoes or cards with us, and just enjoyed being with us.

Going to close with two pictures

Sunset at Peck Lake, April 18,2013

The beach looks great and the water inviting, but we going to take a blog break for a couple of months while we enjoy the summer up in New London, NH.  Stop by and see us.

Fair winds and following seas

Love

Joe and Joy