This is getting very old...

 The notion of being stuck in Florida for the rest of the season is gaining some traction. Neither of us recall a "crossing season" that was laced with so much wind for extended periods of time. It's making a mess of the Gulf Stream again as I type. A small craft advisory is in effect until Monday and has been for a day or so because the seas are reaching 8 feet at 9 second intervals. Keep in mind that this is what they call significant wave height which can be half of what peak wave height will be in reality. So having a sense of the reality of it all based on our experience with the Gulf Stream, we know that there will be waves in excess of 8 feet so we are not going "there". It also tempers the urge to get the crossing over with when the forecast indicates seas of 2 to 3 feet. While optimism for success increases at that reduced prediction the period of the waves can make a huge difference. If the period is 4 seconds the waves are close together and the resulting ride will include spray over the top of the bridge with water sheeting down the enclosure making it difficult to see the next wave and prepare. I know, we should install spray rails. But for two crossings a year?
 By the way, according to the United States Coast Guard, the definition of small craft is a vessel less than 65 feet in length. So we are certainly in that category regardless of how some folks have labeled Freedom.
 Along with the delays in getting across the stream we have put the car into storage for the Winter in anticipation of actually getting to the Bahamas. As a result our mobility is reduced but our walking has increased and this has assisted the waistline since we are probably walking at least a few miles a day now.

   But last night we were treated to the Annual Palm Beach Boat Parade. The parade consisted of all sorts and size of boats. Participants included one person dinks, dinner cruise boats, center consoles, sport fishermen and yachts. As far as overall decoration content goes I have to give kudos to this particular boat which was about 30 feet long. It seemed to have as much color and brightness going for it as the fireworks barge that preceded most of the boats from Peanut Island up past us at the North Palm Beach marina.

 And the fireworks! While they had chosen low altitude displays, they had more fireworks going off all the time than I can remember for the 4th of July in Kingston. To provide a little insight, they started shooting fireworks down at Peanut Island and kept them going all the way past us, the Parker Avenue bridge and points North. That spans about 4 miles and at maybe a speed of 3 knots that meant they were shooting them for at least an hour, and they kept going off as far as we could tell.
 Here is a link to a video of the fireworks display at the Parker Avenue Bridge here in North Palm Beach Florida. The bridge carries US 1 across the Intra Coastal Waterway at the North end of Lake Worth. If you look closely you will see that the bridge is open in support of letting the parade pass without delaying it. I can imagine how frustrating this could be to the motorists waiting to cross the bridge. Fireworks Display
 Everyone in the area had to be pleased to see this display with the exception of the bridge operator. It certainly looked like they got the display finished before they passed through the bridge opening but it was close! And no sooner did they get through the opening did they start a new display!
 It's things like this that help us pass the time while we wait for the opportunity to cross the Gulf Stream. At this point it looks like we will move down to Fort Lauderdale to take advantage of the effect the Bahama bank has on the wave height predictions. Generally speaking the wave height predictions are more favorable in Fort Lauderdale and Miami than they are up here. Yes, we will spend more cash on fuel but we will at least make some progress. Even if we wind up at Bimini, the passage North to Lucaya seems to open up more frequently than the path between the Bahamas and Florida.
 Of course we can expect that to change as soon as we locate there.