Merry Christmas

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Back in Burlingame

Well, the phone call arrived from Chris Keydon, the Capt. that will load Vita Bella on the ship. I made all of the arrangements necessary, looked at Joe and picked the phone up and called Jet Blue to change our flight to Saturday. We made the boat ready for her trip to Ensenada in a rain storm and took our soaking wet bodies to the shower. We changed, kissed the boat goodbye and drove the short 3 miles to the Ft. Lauderdale Airport.

Sitting at Chili's we had a light dinner and waited to board the plane. A short 5 hours later we were in Oakland, having watched Direct TV all the way across the Nation. The Coyote Point Yacht Club's Christmas party was being held, so after Diana picked us up, we went to the Club and said hello to everyone.

Joe is headed back to Grass Valley, the boat is sitting in Dania Beach, Florida and I am in Burlingame. I will be heading to the Valley this week, getting back into the groove here and watching my e-mails for word on when I will be needed in Ensenada to take Vita Bella off the ship.

While I really enjoyed the Odyssey, it is also good to be home with Diana, Kaitlyn and Bailey the Cocker Spaniel.

I will keep the blog updated as to the boats progress toward Ensenada and being back home, I am looking forward to saying hello to everyone in person.

Thanks to Larry, John Bob,Mike,Joe,Wayne & Matt for helping me get the boat the almost 2000 nautical miles we have put under here keels.

Ross

Yet another delay!

Vicki left very early this morning and Joe & I decided to drive across the State to Naples. We traveled the Alligator Alley Highway through the Everglades. We took a short walk on the beach and then had lunch at an Irish Pub. Naples reminded us both of Carmel. High end shops and fancy restaurants.

When we got back to the boat and looked at my e-mail, I found that the Ship is not expected until 12/12 and that there could be delays beyond that. I have decided that I am going to hire a service to put the boat onto the ship and head back to the West Coast.

More Later

Ross & Joe

Ft Lauderdale lazy day

We spent the early morning on the boat and started to look for a lunch place at about 11am. We drove to the Ft. Lauderdale beach area and found the area that we had been to last week when we were in ft. Lauderdale on the boat. After lunch we walked the beach for a while and then went to the Discovery Museum. We took a trip to Mars, flew many types of airplanes and enjoyed the many exhibits. We are going to have dinner on the boat and wish Vicki a safe trip home. She will leave us early tomorrow morning.

We are hoping that the ship will be on time, so we can get home.

Ross with Joe & Vicki

Back on the Boat

We enjoyed the color and fun of Key West all morning and then jumped into the rental car and made the trip back through Miami to Daina Beach. We had breakfast in a local haunt that had been there almost 100 years. All over the town we saw chickens and hens running around. Joe discovered a hen with 7 or 8 chicks rooting for worms and bugs to eat. Key West is a very laid back place.

I enjoyed Jimmy Buffet's store, bought a few shirts, but we did not stay for lunch. We were told that Jimmy was in town and would be there for lunch, but the call of the road led us back to the boat.

One surprise was a boat that we had seen in Coinjock, NC was tied up on the waterfront and was offering cocktail cruises for $49.00. The "Hindu" crew that we had seen in Coinjock were all blasted, so I am sure that the cocktail cruise was a lot of fun.

We are sitting having coffee, and trying to decide what we will do today. Vicki leaves us tomorrow morning and then Joe & I will begin the process of getting the boat ready for her trip to Mexico.

More Later

Ross, Joe & Vicki

Key West

0821am with "Santa Claus is coming to town" playing on the church bells.

Vicki has arrived and we had a quiet dinner ashore at a little Italian Restaurant. After a good night's sleep we set off for the "End of the Road", Key West. We checked into the Ocean Key Hotel & Spa which is at Key West's "ground Zero" Mallory Square. We walked Duval Street and observed all of the South Florida Beautiful People. We had a beer at Capt. Tony's Saloon, and dinner at a Fish Restaurant, "Red Fish, Blue Fish".

I have been eating lots of fish in salads, the best has been the Ahi Caesar salad in a little place in Key Largo. We in fact stopped there yesterday for lunch. When the boat was in Key Largo, we frequented the place.

We will troop back to Daina Beach where the boat is and begin the process of getting her ready for the trip to Ensenada. The ship has been delayed again until the 10th or 11th. I am anxious to get her aboard and to get Joe & me home.

We will do more sight seeing in Key West this morning, I will get more pictures and send a Key West report when we get back to the boat this afternoon.

Ross

with Joe & Vicki

Lunch with the Beautiful People

After we did some boat chores, we jumped into the speedy Nissan Altima and headed to South Beach. Even with the navigation system in the rental car, we had to ask 2 people how to find the "golden mile" Joe has great parking karma and we were off to find a salad for lunch. Diets are really boring! It was a bit of a freak show combined with a models runway. we surmised that every town has a bunch of weird people that gather for the amusement of the World. Miami is no exception.

We are back on the boat waiting for Vicki to call from the airport. We intend to have dinner ashore at a little Italian Restaurant we spotted. More from the crew as we head to Key West tomorrow. When we get back, we will have serious work to do to get Vita Bella ready for her trip through the Panama Canal.

More later,

Ross,Joe and soon Vicki

Lazy Sunday

10:30 am EST Our plan today is to figure out the fuel transfer pump and to do a little more cleaning. We made our reservations for the Hotel in Key West and will run shortly to find a Sunday Paper. The little flying wings with teeth are here in this marina as well, so I can't venture out of the boat without a really good spraying of Cutters. I think my only relief will be a seat on a West bound plane ;-).

More later

Ross & Joe

Port Everglades

We departed Key Biscayne at 0800 and took the off shore route to Ft. Lauderdale and then South on the ICW to Port Everglades. The boat will stay here in the marina until she goes onto the ship sometime soon. I am waiting to get the date from Yacht Path. As soon as the date is set, we will schedule our return flight to San Francisco, only to be in Ensenada 16 days later to take her off the ship. As we entered the Ft Lauderdale channel, there were more cruise ships at the docks than we could count. I guessed that Saturday was the turn over day for the Cruise Lines.

Joe & I will spend time here in South Florida along with his friend Vicki who will be arriving on Monday. Our plans will take us to Key West by car, as we just did not get that far South on the boat.

Matt & Wayne are boarding their flight as we are putting this post together.

I hope that Matt and Wayne enjoyed their week on the boat and I am glad that the little No See Um's did not attack them.

More later

Ross & Joe