Christmas Letter 2023

 

December 2023

Holiday Greetings,

 

What a year (actually 14 months) this has been. I’d written my last missive prior to traveling to Fiji, New Zealand and Australia. Maybe that’s the reason it seems Minnesota has been like a magnet, keeping me home this Fall. I think I’ve only been home for six months in the past 3 years so there’s much to do at home.

 

How wonderful to be scuba diving in Fiji after a several year hiatus. What do I remember most: staying at a resort a 3 hour drive from the airport, a fun roommate, meeting the partner of a friend I met traveling when in college, traditional Fijian customs of dances, waterfalls and a horseback ride, and of course, 9 days of 2-3 dives per day. Oddly most memorable of being in the water was the 50+ long armed Blue starfish I counted snorkeling near the resort. 

 

I met up with my Minnesota friend Amy in Auckland. We traveled from the bottom tip of the south island to almost the top tip of the north island. I now understand the reasons people recommend seeing the South Island. The scenery is more varied than its sister to the north. We hiked around Queenstown, searched unsuccessfully for kiwi on Stewart Island, took an overnight cruise and kayaked through Milford Sound, were besotted by Little Blue penguins near Christchurch, rode horses on the beach at low tide in Abel Tasman National Park, and toured Marlboro Sound by boat before being ferried to the north island.

 

Traveling on the north island from Wellington, we gazed high up at glow worms in the Waitomo Caves. It was like thousands of strands of Christmas lights hanging straight down. We saw Christmas lights strung from hundred year old redwood trees from California, seemingly the only thing not indigenous that’s not trying to be irradiated, like lupine or “wilding trees”. Not to be forgotten was the sulfuric smell of the nearby natural hot springs, taking in the sun at the Bay of Islands on the north end and kayaking between the islands in the Coromandel Peninsula.  Being on the water, by islands is my happy place. And happy I was to see Lord of the Rings’ Hobbiton movie set.

 

My two weeks in and around Auckland were on the waterfront. A day at the Maritime Museum, an afternoon at the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron helping the race committee judge the race, and another racing, a third day bussing to the suburbs to meet a friend from Minnesota who was building sails. A bike ride and picnickers on Christmas Day felt more like our 4th of July.

 

2023 was celebrated in Australia, a second chance to see Little Blue penguins, the smallest in the world in Melbourne. Fun, too, to meet up with a former colleague “under the clock” at the main train station. Then up to Cairns to scuba dive and reconnect with a dive friend on my final night down under.

 

Another whirlwind back in the States—seeing family and friends that I missed during the holidays in Colorado and back home, cruising on a trawler with a friend in Florida—before heading off to Greece. Favorite Grecian memories: visiting the pinnacle-high monasteries in Meteora, sailing around the Cyclades, meeting up with former students from Lake Superior at anchor on Paros, the food, the ruins everywhere, and seeing Madame Butterfly at the Pantheon. A very different experience than my first visit in 1975.

 

Time to re-pack for a summer sailing again out of Bayfield on Lake Superior. Good students, great concerts at the gazebo and at Big Top Chautauqua, and now Wednesday evening Open Mics. How do I have time to teach!!! Though the teaching season on Lake Superior wraps up at the end of September, I still got out one more time in San Diego for another team building experience with executive MBA students.

 

My home was calling for me. With all this time away, there were lots of dust bunnies in the house and a garage demanding my attention. That might not sound good to you, but it’s been nice to reconnect with my home and be able to foster a cat again. But if course this didn’t last for long. I was off again to go trawling with my friend Lee in Florida, finally/hopefully getting to the Dry Tortugas, after several failed sailing attempts.

 

Florida during an El Niño apparently isn’t the best time to try to go from the Tampa/St. Pete area to the Dry Tortugas. We didn’t make it but had fun along the way watching boat parades, street parades, Christmas tree lighting and shopping strolls, and a Winter Wonderettes musical. In addition to meeting up with “loopers”, those going around the eastern half of the US by water from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, I met up with a friend I hadn’t seen since I moved to Minnesota in 1985. How easy it was to reconnect after all that time.

 

Now I’m off to Boston to spend a quiet Christmas with my sister and brother-in-law and back home to celebrate New Year’s with good friends.

 

My wish for 2024 is to share love and light with the world and to make it better.

Cliff Notes of Dry Run from Bradenton to the Dry Tortuga

 Tuesday Nov. 28. Flew to Tampa. Lee Ganz, owner of Elba, a 36’ Monk Trawler which we were to take to the Dry Tortugas. Provisioned at Costco, Detwilder’s, and (unfortunately) Wal-Mart. 

Wed. Nov. 29  Picked up Lee’s meds. Starter malfunctioned on Jeep after pool noodle stop. Had early dinner at Riviera Marina. 

Thurs. Nov. 30. Jeep got repaired but not soon enough to start our journey south. Went to Myakka River State Park. Plenty of deer, spoonbill cranes, Rosetta birds that are the color of flamingoes but on much shorter legs and a number of alligators.

Fri. Dec. 1. Departed Bradenton. Headed to Venice. Stayed at Crow’s Nest Marina, which is managed by a very helpful and attentive Rick. Met Gregg and Joan on Lady Joan, a Ranger Tug, and Pete, the local resident parrot.

Sat. Dec. 2. Biked/Scootered into Venice. Shopped at the Saturday outdoor market. Had ice cream. Watched the small town Christmas Parade from back of boat with cocktails.

Sun. Dec. 3. Anchored outside of Fisherman’s Village. Took the dinghy in and tied up to Lady Joan. Walked the mall, ate at a waterfront restaurant and then chatted with Gregg and Joan. She was a former travel agent, he flew leer jets. 

Mon. Dec. 4 Onward to Cayo Costa State Park. Park closed at docks due to Ian hurricane damage 15 months ago. Took the dinghy several miles down to Cabbage Cay. We walked the sandy trail, saw gopher tortoises, Harry the egret, and many small geckos. Had to eat at the “Cheeseburger in Paradise” restaurant where I downed a bacon cheeseburger and margarita. Margarita was very good, burger just ok. Met people on Puffin (Tony and Shirley) and Rock ‘n Roll (Pat and Teresa, an independent financial advisor). 

Tues. Dec. 5. Left the anchorage at 8:30. Headed maybe to Marco Island, could stop at Naples depending upon speed and weather. Now planning on round counter clockwise around the bottom of Florida instead if the Dry Tortugas based on weather—strong winds against us. Just outside of Naples we made a sharp left turn and went into the  City Marina. Starboard tie up, slip D4 for the night.

Wed. Dec 6. Moved Elba to a mooring ball. Attended the musical, Winter Wonderettes. Actually it was wonderful. A musical that is the Christmas party for hardware store employees with back stories of their lives. Lee, aka Bob, had his moment on stage and bowed as the audience congratulated him on his onstage performance afterwards in the lobby.. 

Thursday Dec 7. Dinner with Shirley and Tony Lucchino on Puffin, along with Pat and Teresa Clemons from Rock ‘n Roll. Puffin is a 42’ Nordic Tug. Short for under bridges, steering is all in the pilot house, 3 stories down is the master cabin. Very nice.

Fri. Dec 8. Lee replaced the “Snuffer”, the coal-filled filter to the head vent which didn’t seem to lessen the odor when flushing the electric toilets. He then exercised some thru-hulls and unfortunately left the one to the generator closed so now we can’t start the generator. Went to a Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony and stroll, where Lee lost the kill switch to the dinghy. It wasn’t his day. 

Sat. Dec 9. Necessary shopping. Naples Christmas Boat Parade from the dock. Boy are these boats decked out. Some must hire techno squads to do the lighting.

Sun. Dec 10. Departed for Moss, though stayed on a mooring in the afire Myers area which we hadn’t legally secured and got reprimanded for it the following morning. Met with Kathy Hermann for lunch at Rude Shrimp. Hadn’t seen her since I moved to Minnesota in 1985. 

Mon. Dec 11. Cruised up the Charlotte River to Sweetwater Landing Marina, part of Fort Myers. Met with Lee’s friends Tim and Laurie. Had a nice lunch then went to their home. Learned about Advent Puzzles!

Tuesday Dec. 12. On to Sanibel. Went to Captiva Island instead, which joins to Sanibel to the south. Strong winds predicted for the next several days. SCA—that’s small craft advisory. Good thing we didn’t go to the Dry Tortugas considering all the red on the wind maps. 

Wed. Dec. 13.  It’s back to Venice to outrun the high winds and SCA. But Elba was sitting on the bottom in 3.1’ at the dock. Finally left Captiva at 11:08. Called Mike to get a slip at Crow’s Nest Marina in Venice. He said we could stay thru the week but to leave by Saturday due to the wind shift coming out of the southwest. 

Thurs. Dec. 14  Started back to Bradenton ahead of the big low cresting on Saturday. Motored up to learn the 91-year old swing Blackburn Bridge had just shut down. We turned back towards Venice but got stuck on a outgoing tide. 2.5 hours later, after pushing with the dinghy along with using the bow and stern thrusters, and putting out both a bow and stern anchor to prevent us from being pushed further into shallower water, the tide rose from 3.1’ to nearly 4’, the draft of Elba, we were able to motor off. That saved $1300, the cost of SeaTow coming to pull us off. We motored back at Crow’s Nest, where we had happy hour with Loopers Sasha and Graham on Live de Life, Patrick and Leila on Grand Life (a Grand Banks), Sue and Dan on Carpe Diem, and Rick from R&R, Ruth Ann didn’t join us because of a soaking her leg. They had a cute dog I befriended named Sally. 

Fri. Dec. 15. Struck out again for Bradenton. Called the Blackburn Bridge multiple times to make sure it would open. With several men using ropes to maneuver it sideways, it did. Most of the ride was relatively smooth, with current helping push us northward. It was windier in the more open spaces. In one of those open spaces, we felt a shudder as if we may have caught something on our prop. We considered turning in to Sarasota but pursued on 26 miles, reaching  our home port in the dark because of motoring at a slower RPM. 

Sat. Dec. 16. Because of the winds, rain, small craft advisory, and potential flooding, and assuming the Crystal River Boat Parade would be cancelled as well as other outdoor activities, i decided to curtail my visit and headed home, giving me a bit of breathing room to prepare for my holiday visit with family.