January 21, 2007 Second last day in the U S of A

Sunday and here we sit waiting for our weather window. If all goes well we will be off to the Bahamas Monday at 11 pm. We have been sitting for a week in North Lake Worth waiting for South winds and watching the culture unfold. The Dolphins arrive at high tide on the ... the birds arrive shortly after to feed on the bits left over. The boaters descend on the local Publix and West Marine stores just after noon and the store staff scurries to get reorganized soon after. At five the cocktail parties start and end at sundown. We sit and wait in shorts and tees listening to CBC weather reports for Canada. Such is life in the retirement zone. The ICW has been avoided by choice, we prefer to go out into the Atlantic. It is a lot safer. We had to spend 30 minutes in the ICW today moving from North Lake Worth to Lake Worth and were passed by no fewer than 5 cigarette boats going full throttle ... within 20 feet of out hull. I wish they were in season. The ICW can be viewed as a microcosm of the North American social environment trapped in a linear flow of time. Boaters of all varieties enter the system, mingle, mix, form relationships, travel awhile, depart, remix and on and on. The trip takes a couple of months and with daily intersecting paths the possibilities are endless. If you travel outside you play the role of the loaner ... the outsider ... not in the mainstream. More on this later ... cheers.