Missed too many days to catch up

Finally back on Shawnee after Thanksgiving with the grands in New Hampshire and a trip to Cuba. At home the grandkids' bedroom holds a new (removable) swing hanging from the rafters.  Very popular and it's able to hold lots of kids at once. (Wish I had a pic.)

Before we went back to New Hampshire we sailed from St. Augustine to Florida over 3.5 days into Dinner Key, Coconut Grove mooring field.  It was a nice gentle trip with many windy, windy days before and after Drew's perfect weather window.  Nice and easy in the cockpit.

The old log book is filled so we purchased a new, different log book for 2015-16:

Some of the check offs at the top are neat.  It doesn't have sections for maintenance, fuel, or marinas, so I'm not sure I like it as well.  It's with us for this season, and I'll use the old one for the maintenance and fuel records.


Drew continues to add to his boat "to do" list.  Pretty long and he constantly talks about how he hasn't gotten enough done each day though we chip away at it; replacing, fixing and maintaining and talking about it.

We had some nice sunrises and sunsets:

 It was calm when we arrived so we rode the dinghy into the new office.



We arrived in Dinner Key to check into the brand new marina office; new showers, new laundry, new smaller lounge - no weather TV.

There is a newly constructed huge park, Regatta Park, on the back side and the waterfront piers to the left.  Free parking included.  The town of Coconut Grove we love with Coco Walk, a shopping area with a good cinema in the center, Bice (Bee-che) for our happy hours, and 2 roof top bars for nice views at the Sonesta and the historic preservation designated Mayfair.  Drew joined a 24 hour gym with a trainer for a few sessions - a first!

We arrived to 4 days stuck on the boat because of high winds in the mooring field, 20 to 25 K.  The launch won't run if it's over 15, the waves are just too high.  Our dinghy could do it, but chances of having a problem are great.  I spent hours reading a good book -- my book lay on the cockpit teak in the rainstorm -- it's our little sun/rain room, fully enclosed.

So many good quotes about the ocean from this book of short stories by great authors (Dickens, Stevenson, Verne, Defoe) set on the sea -- I'll share with you later.


Saw this great poster in the bathroom of a local hotel.  Then we prepared for our trip to CUBA with the Garden Club of America through the People to People tour of Fundacion Amistad. 

We packed lightly for Cuba having read that it's a third world country and casual was all we needed.  Mazu stayed in the pet "hotel" for the first time.  It has a TV and cot, no less.
 Luly Duke and Michael Conners (author of Caribbean and Cuban books, The Splendor of Cuba) were our incredible guides who led us through amazing places without many English speaking American tourists.  Gia, was the required government friendly guide who translated and gave the "hail all heroes" history of Cuba as we traveled through the countryside of Cienfuegos, Trinidad, Veradano, Mantanzas, and Havana.  We didn't see the far east or western provinces.

The stone work on the column top connection to arches and below the chair rail is exquisite.  The intricate iron work on stairs is everywhere in Havana and can't escape notice.  I took many, many photos. When I download them from Drew's phone I'll share some on this blog.  We wanted to go to Cuba before it changes.  Paying the big bucks for a small group guided tour was totally worth it; learned and saw so much more than if we'd been on our own.