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Published: December 10th 2010
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Sausalito Sunset
View from the bridge-of Mana It is hard to imagine that we are about to embark on our 11th world cruise. It seems like we just finished our first one and were thinking that would be the one and only time that we would go around the world on a ship. This cruising life seems to agree with us and we are truly looking forward to this next circumnavigation which will begin in Ft Lauderdale on Dec 27 and end in Southampton, UK on Jun 7, 2011. It is the longest world cruise yet at 162 days—almost half a year. It is somewhat daunting but the call of the sea is strong and the anticipation of adventure is very alluring.
We finished the last world cruise on May 12th in Ft Lauderdale. We enjoyed three weeks in Ft Myers getting our feet on the ground and then flew to South Dakota for a family reunion. After spending so much time at sea, it was nice to reconnect with our family and friends. We blocked out 11 rooms at the Sioux Falls hotel and had a good old time seeing my Dad, sisters and brothers and other relations. We took a drive down to Sioux City
Atkins Family
At the Summer Reunion in Sioux Falls to visit with our favorite world cruiser, Dr Tinkle. We last saw him in Cape Town, South Africa at the Christaan Barnard Hospital in April. He has fully recovered and was happy to be in his own home and see us.
We flew back to LA with my sister Judy, picked up our van and luggage in San Luis Obispo and drove home to our boat in mid-June. In the previous 17 months we had been at sea 14 months. It was good to be on our own boat! We arrived in Sausalito on a beautiful, warm day just in time to watch the sunset over Mt Tamalpais from our pilothouse. The dock was lively and many of our friends were there to greet us with a warm homecoming. It didn’t take long to get back in the routine of regular life: bar-b-ques every night, swimming every day, listening to Giants baseball and boating on San Francisco Bay.
We took several boat trips with our friends, Mark, Barbara and Andrew. We cruised up the Napa River and spent several days sightseeing via bikes and kayaks. We bought new kayaks which can be paddled and pedaled and we gave
Krogen Raft-Up
A great night in Strawberry with Glen, Christy, Alan and Carol. them a good workout both on the bay and on the river. We spent lots of time with the Carlisles playing cards, swimming and fixing up the boat. At 10 years of age, Andrew has become an excellent card player and enjoys writing and scuba diving. He is doing a blog (www.mytb.org/andrew-b-c) about their current sailboat trip from California to Florida via the Panama Canal. We crewed on the first leg of their journey last summer from Sausalito to Monterey.
It seemed like our five months at home flew by but it was a most exciting time to be in San Francisco. As ardent Giants fan we watched their march to the playoffs and World Series in a storybook season that ended up with a historic win on the playing fields of Texas. We were given tickets to the last game of the season after Mark towed a sailboat back to our marina. The grateful sailor gave us these hard to come by tickets and with Mark and Andrew we got to see the Giants clinch their division. In July we had reserved a slip at the marina next to the ballpark for all of October just on the
The Cruising Carlisles
Mark, Barbara & Andrew set sail for the Panama Canal outside chance that the Giants would make it to the playoffs. It was so exciting to be around the stadium for all of the celebrations and festivities. Our niece, Cary--bless her heart--gave us tickets to one of the Championship games against Philadelphia which turned out to be one of the best baseball games we had ever seen. The jet flyovers, the fireworks, Tony Bennett singing “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” the crowds of fans dressed in panda hats, bushy beards and rally thongs all culminated in the victory parade down Market Street where millions of Giant’s supporters hailed the new World Champions.
With the end of the baseball season and daylight saving time, we packed up and began our annual migration. On the recommendation of friends, Steve and Barb, we welcomed Aine to boat sit Mana in our absence. Aine pilots floatplanes in Alaska, so we figured she would be a good person to entrust our boat to. She is flying sightseeing planes over San Francisco this winter.
In early November we stuffed our van and headed out on a cross-country drive to Florida. We spent time with my sisters all along the way. We picked
Super Patriot
Boat cleaning Rambo. up Judy in San Luis Obispo and drove to Green Valley, AZ to visit Roberta and Bruce. We enjoyed the beauty of the Sonora Desert with its warm days and crystal clear, star filled nights.
It took us three days to get across Texas—yes it is one big state! We went through the Hill Country which changed our perception of the Lone Star State. The landscape is beautiful and dramatic. We ended up in New Orleans celebrating Thanksgiving with sister, Linda and her family. Their daughter Angela has a beautiful home and welcomed us to their holiday feast. Angela and husband, Pat survived Katrina and the oil spill. Angela told us of her personal odyssey during the storm of fleeing to Houston and then relocating to Lafayette and Baton Rouge in an effort to find housing and a school for her son. We toured the French Quarter which looks very normal but we also saw parts of New Orleans which are still devastated from the hurricane. We all had much to be thankful for and it was great to be able to share the holiday with family.
We continued eastward and stayed on a little barrier island off
"A" The Yacht
394' Russian playboy's megayacht visits San Francisco. the coast of central Florida called Cedar Key. This small village is a throwback to the early 1900s and we found a cute condo perched out over the bay where we holed up for a few days. We noticed that the whole Florida coast is in economic misery due to the financial meltdown and the oil spill. Most of the fishing grounds were closed all summer and tourists chose not to visit for fear of tar covered beaches. It seemed like many businesses were closed and every other house had a for-sale sign.
We had a nice visit with Dr Tinkle who is wintering in St Petersburg. This will be the first year in many that he hasn’t been on a world cruise. He will be greatly missed on board but we could see that he is already a favorite at the retirement home and continues to play the piano and take his scooter out for daily trips around St Pete.
After 3,750 miles we arrived in Ft Myers happy to have completed a problem-free transcontinental road trip. Now we will spend most of December getting ready for the world cruise, selling our van and enjoying the comforts
Sister Judy
She mastered the Hobie kayak. of Michael and Susan’s lovely condo.
We send holiday greetings to all and best wishes for the New Year. Please stay tuned for our world cruise blog beginning next month.
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Brooks
non-member comment
Enjoyed
We are busy selling our house here in Hawaii. We have bought a new place in San Clemente and will be selling Dana Point when we can prove 2/5 year residency in CA for the tax break. Busy busy we are anxious to be in one house. Happy holidays we look forward to your blogs Aloha Brooks and John