And it's time once again

 Normally we would leave the North East or more specifically the Kingston N.Y. area at this time of year and head South to Freedom which was stored on the hard somewhere in Florida. Since we sold the condo back last October and we were homeless over the Winter, and living on the boat over most of the Summer, we had no fall colors to fill our eyes this year. Oh well. Freedom stayed in the water except for a brief haul for bottom paint and other maintenance. Given all of these changes this view of the Caloosahatchee River during a regatta will have to suffice. This is a sunrise view as opposed to the usual sunset photos from the condo in Port Ewen we have provided in the past. But I like it. Instead of the sun going down in the Fall signifying the end of a day, what we have here is a good deal of energy heading out onto the river on sailboats at the beginning of a day.

 Mind you, this first photo is not an all encompassing view. In fact, it doesn't even cover a quarter of the boats that were on their way out onto the river. Maybe this second photo lends a little insight, but in my opinion, you had to be there to take it in. This was a wave of small sailboats all heading out at once. It makes me wonder what the shoreline activities were like because the number of boats leaving from the same location was very high. But it all looks like it went off very well. The winds were predictable and steady leading to what looked like an easy sail away from shore and onto the river.
 So instead of driving South with a carload of supplies for Winter, what we did have was the business of locating a new condo as well as the associated activities. We had to have the POD shipped South and unpack it. Then we flew North and rented a truck so we could drive the remaining furnishings stored by relatives in NYS back South. By the way this was a slightly better than "break even" task economically speaking.  If we had to do it again, we probably would have left it all behind with relatives and back filled it down here in Florida.
 With all of that behind us, we pulled out of the marina with Freedom loaded to the over the side thruhull fittings. There wasn't any room left aboard for supplies. I have to admit the chore of loading Freedom went much more easily this year because of the boat's proximity to the home. New batteries for the inverter went in with the help of my brother. Jon, I cannot thank you enough! Only 157 pounds each going into a very bad location in the bilge. Additionally various groceries and a freezer full also found their way aboard before we left for the East coast of Florida. As the time to leave approached we saw a window to get to the Abacos that was wide and calm. It was just what we were looking for to make the journey. We had shipments coming in and decided to leave them behind hoping our new neighbors would forward them along for us.The opportunity to get to the Abacos in three days of easy travel does not come frequently. Besides we wanted to scope out the Alligators on the canal across Florida. Even the large ones were shy this year and we were lucky to see a few swimming away from us as we approached them as slowly as we could.
 As it turned out, Freedom spit out a raw water cooling pump going across the Lake. It wasn't a very serious failure and thankfully it happened in fresh water. We were able to run on both engines all the way to Stuart where we stayed at the Sunset Bay Marina. A very accommodating place where Sam the dockmaster makes life easy and everyone looks to help. But that is our impression of living in Florida vs. the North East in general. It seems people are more pleasant down here because they don't have to deal with Winter. Anyway, the water pump set us back a day and we still could have crossed to the Bahamas that Saturday. However, with a new subscription to Chris Parker's weather service we learned that a low was going to develop and move through the Bahamas. His forecast was spot on, and convinced us that we should stay put since we lost the 3rd day of the window we needed to get to Hope Town.
 We all know how that turned out. Hurricane Sandy formed. It hammered the Abacos and moved on to wreak havoc in the North East United States. What a mess. It's difficult to comes to terms with the devastation this storm caused in the marine industry let alone housing. But then, they all had to know they were close to the shore and rolling the dice. Look out, yet again, a Nor' Easter is forming and this could be #2 in the 1-2 series. We certainly hope not!
 Stalling for a week due to a water pump was the best thing that could have happened to us. Eventually another window opened up, and we moved the boat to North Palm Beach, sat there a nite, and then early in the morning we moved to West End the Bahamas.
 It seems they fared well over here as far as Sandy goes. There is damage, but Old Bahama Bay is open for business and grateful to get any our sour economy is willing to deliver.