On the Road Again....

We are currently anchored in Lake Worth which is right off of Palm Beach in 25 knots of wind - it's howling and we're rocking and rolling!! Great first day to be back on the water, but the outside was even worse - 9 foot seas!

Tammy here by the way...

OK so the conditions aren't ideal but it did feel good to be back underway today after sitting at a dock for a week - the dolphins picked right up where they left off playing in our bow wake!

We had a great time in Stuart and it was very productive as well. Doug and our friend Steve accomplished a major upgrade of Gypsies' electrical system which will make things much easier when we are on the hook for long periods of time (as we will be once we head for the islands). I'll leave the details of the upgrade to Doug's blog entry (which I'm sure will be coming shortly if he can manage to stand up straight after a week hunched over in the engine room!!) but suffice it to say, we are now enjoying the fruits of electrical independence!!

Our stay in Stuart was lots of fun - after spending a day with John and Francesca Spain at their new wonderful home in Sebring, we settled in to get some work done on the boat.

However, that didn't mean that we didn't also have time for some happy hours at Duffy's sports bar and some afternoons at the BEACH!! Now I know it's not real nice of me to talk about going to the beach when so many of our friends and family are back in New England digging out from feet of snow, but why do you think we are on this trip if not to make our friends jealous! Just because I'm so sensitive, I won't dwell on the fact that it has been sunny and about 75-80 degrees here in Stuart for the last three days, or that not only did we go to the beach but we went swimming in the ocean - now try and do that in Maine in December and you'll understand why we just had to leave!!

While we were in Stuart, we also went to a party at our friends Steve and Di Koch's - now this warrants an explanation. They are staying at a friends house in Stuart and decided that was reason enough to have a party - a real life Gypsies in the Palace situation!! So it was only fitting that Snake (Doug), Everlasting Mooney (Colleen), John and I (the groupies) all showed up at this amazingly beautiful house armed with a bottle of my homemade spice rum! Despite the fact that no one got thrown into the pool and we didn't have to shoot the lock off the liquor cabinet (thanks Jimmy for the use of your lyrics), a great time was had by all! The owners of the home, Karen and Chuck, even wound up being home and joining in the festivities! All in all there were about 20 cruisers there, all eager to swap boat stories and advice - not only did we learn lots but we met some great people who we hope to run into out there living 'da life!!

As I'm writing this, I'm sitting in shorts and a tee shirt and bare feet - shoes and socks have become a thing of the past and Colleen has finally put away her wool sweaters and long johns! Unfortunately, speaking of Colleen, we were one Gypsy light on our voyage today. Because we have had Colleen's parents' car for the past week, she is following us down to Pompano Beach in the car (or leading us because she got there in an hour and a half and we will get there tomorrow early afternoon!) - that way we can have the car to drive down to Key West for Christmas, which is still the game plan.

Tomorrow morning we lift anchor early and head for Pompano Beach where we have a slip at a little marina just south of Hillsboro inlet. Wednesday morning early we will set out by car and hopefully arrive in KW by about noon! Our friend Scott isn't playing at the Hog until 5:00 pm so that gives us plenty of time to have some beers and wings (my favorite in the world!) at Schooner Wharf while listening to Michael McCloud and to visit other select KW drinking establishments! We need to save ourselves somewhat though for the big Christmas Eve party that we will be attending with Scott - yeah right, this is KW!!! After 5:00 on Wednesday all our friends and family can go on the Hog's Breath raw bar webcam, give us a call on our cellphones and we can say Merry Christmas in person (well kind of)!!

Wishing all our family and friends much happiness, love and warmth for the holidays - we miss you all but you will be in our thoughts as we raise at least one toast to you all KW style! Warmest wishes from the Gypsies to you and yours!