Catch-up time

When I last left you we were learning how to pin a lip to a tongue. (again, don't ask) Wednesday Norm and Vicki joined us for a road trip to Ft. Lauderdale so we could get our C-map chip updated. (a chip for our GPS) Ft. Lauderdale is the boating capital of the world and full of our favorite marine stores. (cruisers candy stores) After a quick late lunch at a must stop in Lauderdale, Lester's Diner, it was off to Total Wine, a mega discount liquor store to replenish our supply, then we hit as many of the marine stores as we could in the short time we had. What a fun day!
Thursday night was slush night on Chuck and Pat's boat "Got the Fever". Pat makes a mean slush. After getting "slushy" it was time to hit Park Avenue BBQ to pig out on some of the best ribs I've ever eaten. (fourth time we have been there)
Friday we woke up to a gorgeous day so we decided to go for a day cruise and maybe throw a line in. The main reason we wanted to go out was because we had our stabilizers worked on (big computerized fins under the boat that are supposed to keep us stable in rough seas) and we wanted to see how they were working. Well, they performed beautifully (FINALLY) They are working so well we could have put a glass of wine on the counter and it would not have spilled. (HAPPY CREW!!)
Friday night is free roast beef sliders during happy hour at Wahoo's. A group of us went up and as usual had a really good time. (OK, we were bad) Before we left, Norm and Vicki hit the dance floor and practiced for Dancing with the Stars. (Vicki's favorite show) See their photo shoot below.
Last night a cold front moved through (can't you people up North keep your cold fronts to yourselves!) and it has been raining all day with temps in the low 40's and tonight it's going to be in the low 30's. Can you believe it snowed in Orlando. Not to worry, it is going to be in the mid 70's this coming week. A good thing because by Thursday there will be 32 DeFever cruiser boats and about 100 fellow cruisers here for the boat show and DeFever Rendezvous. (Talk about a party!)
Tomorrow evening 15 of our cruising friends are coming to September Song for Mexican night. Margaritas, Coronas and my enchiladas. Should be great fun!

September Song (ole!) out
Roberto


Friday morning we woke up to a beautiful sunrise and a beautiful day. Let's go out on the Atlantic!

It was a beautiful day on the Atlantic. No fish, but a beautiful day

If we keep going in this direction we could be in the Bahamas in eight hours. Not this trip, but the first part of March we will say good-bye to the USA and hello Bahamas "Mon".

Joe, Norm, and Vicki having way too much fun at Wahoo's last night. (well, I guess we all had waaay too much fun!) Sorry! The rest of the pictures were rated X so Stephanie wouldn't let me post them of us being yahoos at Wahoo's.

Norm and Vicki practicing for their debut on Dancing with the Stars.

Norm and Vicki practicing as replacements for Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Gray
 in the remake of Dirty Dancing

Thursday night was slush night on Chuck and Pat's boat "Got the Fever" Oh man were they good, but you wouldn't want to have too many or you would get slushy. Then it was off to Park Avenue BBQ to pig out on baby back ribs

Dave and Penny, good cruising friends from North Carolina arrived on their boat "Stormy" Thursday and joined in the fun.

Wednesday we woke to ice on September Song. This is just not right!!!

A trip to Ft. Lauderdale wouldn't be complete without a lunch at Lester's Diner.

Lester's is a true New York Diner

Dinner on Tide Hiker

Steve, Di, Stephanie and I descended on Tide Hiker for another delicious creation prepared by Chef Vicki in her infamous crock pot. (chicken stroganoff) Good stuff Vicki! As usual it was great fun getting together with good friends on a cold night (way too cold for Florida) for lots of good food, drink, (OK drinks!) and tons of laughs. Dr. Vicki gave us a few of her techniques for medical emergencies on Tide Hiker. She really wants to try some of these techniques out. Maybe not in an emergency, but just to see if she can do them. I won't go into all the details, but Norm sleeps with one eye open. Next question was what would Stephanie do if something happened to me while out. We have our duties, and one of mine is docking and undocking. Stephanie can run the boat as well as I can, but has had no practice docking. She said if something happened to me, it would be WOT (wide open throttle) a call on the VHF to the closest dock and hit it at full speed.
(all 47 tons) It wouldn't be pretty, but she said she would get me in. I love my wife!!!
The night was great fun and I laughed so hard my side hurt. Now, where did I park that boat?
Thanks, Tide Hiker!

September Song (at WOT) out
Bob


Chef Vicki getting ready to serve up another one of her delicious creations

"Hurry up Norm, we're hungry"

If I tied her hands down, Stephanie couldn't talk (and she isn't even Italian!)

Medical director on Tide Hiker, Dr. Vicki, demonstrating how you safety pin the tong to the lip. Don't ask!!!

Just another Sunday

Just another fun Sunday! We started off the day at the Riverwalk Jazz Series in old downtown Stuart. After a little jazz music and a little shopping in Old Downtown Stuart, we all decided to stop at duffy's for a drink. (all that music and shopping can make you real thirsty) Well, after trying to order two times and the waiter coming back and telling us they were out of most everything we ordered, including Pino Grigio (that's just not right!) we decided to take our business elsewhere, so it was off to check out the new bar across the bridge from our marina. We decided that it wasn't our type of place (too sterile) so after a couple of coffee and other miscellaneous drinks (it's cold out today, 60 degrees) we all headed to our favorite place to play, Wahoo's. I guess we are more at home in a funky place like Wahoo's, so we all said WAHOO, and had a good time the rest of the afternoon listening to some of the oldies and misbehaving. (we are so bad)
After a great time at Wahoo's we all headed to our favorite sushi restaurant and ordered a couple of trawlers (they call them boats, we call them trawlers) filled with a load of fabulous sushi and sashimi. It's great spending the day with good cruising friends. We all have so much in common. (Is there such a thing as life being too good? NOT!) Today we decided that we would change our day of rest from Sunday to Monday, so today is a chill out day on the boat. (or maybe not)

September Song (enjoying good friends) out
Bob


We started off the day at the Riverwalk Jazz Series in old downtown Stuart

Stopped by a new bar at the Marina across the street for some Irish coffee. Not funky enough for our group

So we headed back to Wahoo's, our favorite hangout for some good music (don't know if it was a he or a she, but he/she was good)

Misbehaved all afternoon before heading to our favorite sushi restaurant

Sushi boat #1

Sushi boat #2

Eleven cruising friends out for sushi night

Waiter, can you split the bill five ways?

Ringing in 2010

Well, the New Year is here. What a great time we had bringing it in with good cruising friends. We started out the night on September Song with enough apps that we probably could have made that dinner. From there we made our way to Wahoo's for dinner, then moved to the bar to usher in the New Year. The drinks flowed and the laughter roared the whole evening. Cruisers know how to party! (where did I park that boat?) needless to say it was a late night but we had a ball. After such a late night I don't know why I woke up so early, but it was worth it to see the first sunrise of 2010 over the harbor. What a beautiful start to a new year.
2009 was a great year for us cruising on September Song and 2010 and beyond promises to be just as good if not better. Life has been good to me, especially being able to share it with a wonderful wife, best friend, and admiral of our ship who loves cruising as much as I do. Thanks Stephanie for making our life together so special. Love you!
We are going to be here in Stuart for a couple more weeks until after the DeFever Rendezvous, but hang in there, we will be back out on the waterways cruising and exploring soon.

September Song (Happy New Year) out
Bob


Happy hour on September Song

Do you think Norm and Vicki are having fun yet?

"Chuck, you are suppose to look at the camera!"

Gregg and Karen, new cruising friends that joined the wild and crazy group

Joe's a happy boy! Julia is here for a few days

This is the luckiest guy in the whole world!!! I get to spend 2010 with the love of my life. Now, if we could just remember where we docked that boat.

Shawnie, our bartender extraordinaire, says Hi Doug and Tammy.

First sunrise of 2010 over the harbor. Great way to start the New Year! What the h#$$ am I doing up so early after staying out soooo late?

Christmas and then some

We had a great Christmas on September Song. Just the four of us as all of our cruising friends headed out to parts unknown for the holiday. Stephanie gave me a new underwater camera and it is way cool. It has the most amazing features. It's also a regular camera. It automatically knows when you have it under water and adjusts itself. I can't wait to try it out in the Islands. Look forward to some amazing pictures. For Christmas dinner Stephanie, as usual, outdid her self again. Man was it good!
Yesterday we drove the girls to the beach for a play day and they had a blast playing in the waves and water and chasing the ball. While we are in a marina they miss play days in the water.
Yesterday Joe, Norm, and Vicki returned from their trips, so we all went to Wahoo's for happy hour. Well, one hour turned into another, then another, then we met two other couples staying on a boat on the other side of the marina and the nine of us ended up spending the whole night there. We were bad, but it was great fun. Good thing all we had to do was walk back to the boats. (now, where did I park that boat?) The nine of us will be at Wahoo's for New Year's Eve along with lots more of our cruising friends. (can you say PARRRTY?)
Today was a sad day in our cruising community. Puss, one of the 23 year old boat cats on Gypsies died last night. As we all know, they are family, and it's hard when you lose one. She had a great life and a great Mom and Dad, and I know she will be missed. Goodbye Puss, you were a great cat. Say Hi to Pica for us. Check out Gypsies blog to read about Puss.

September Song (goodbye Puss) out
Bob


Rib roast on the grill. YUM!

Stephanie hard at work preparing Christmas dinner.

Now that's a Christmas dinner!

Cassie guarding her Christmas present. As with all kids and the excitement of Christmas Cassie got sick and threw up. YUK!

Play day at the beach for Cassie and Godiva

They love jumping, playing, and chasing the ball in the waves

Part of the gang is back from their trips for the holiday, so we went up to Wahoo's for happy hour to celebrate....and celebrate....and celebrate! We were bad! Went waaay beyond happy hour.

Suzanne and Frank, cruisers who joined us at Wahoo's to celebrate.

Janine and Al, Friends staying with Suzanne and Frank for the week joined in.