Port St. Joe, FL - 12/27/10

Just a quick update of the non-events of the past couple days. We did go to Christmas eve services in Waukeenah which was a 2 hour drive so we spent the night in a motel near there. That was a nice change from rocking and rolling on the boat. The service was very nice and a dear friend of Ricki's brother had decorated an alter in the corner of the sanctuary in his honor which was acknowledged by the minister during the ceremony. The folks here are so genuine it makes us feel guilty leaving. Many even remembered us from our last visit many months ago. The down side of the trip was a little bug that I had caught a day earlier that showed up again with gusto and caused us to miss the Christmas dinner at the Monroes' the next day. Being a sharing person, I shared it with Ricki who started the 3 day regiment of staying close to facilities by Christmas day.

Sunday and Monday we stayed pretty close to the boat for a couple reasons, one being the gale force winds that were predicted and did show up (see the picture with the red flags) as well as not feeling too great. The wind was so strong it flattened several of our fenders which I hope will re-inflate but I bought a couple new ones just in case. The weather has also been pretty cool .. 40's in the daytime and into the 20's at night but that will start to change Tuesday with daytime temps rising the rest of the week. With New Years coming up and the return of the loopers to the marina, stories about last year are starting to surface. I heard this morning about several that took a New Year eve swim across the marina. I am sure more will be heard as time goes on. We are the only looper occupied boat currently out of 3 boats, but by the 29th several more are expected with a total of 30 - 35 folks expected for the seminar 1/7 thru 1/9. Hopefully we will connect with someone that will have the same float plan as us in crossing from Carrabelle to Tarpon Springs after the meeting. Tomorrow perhaps we can get some boat chores put to bed, laundry done and shop for a new microwave that seemed to crap itself recently before everyone starts coming in to the marina.