Kinda Sorta on the Way to Florida . . .

We made a detour to Sabine Pass to see our friends Art and Barb, who are climbing out of the darkness that they have been inhabiting since the first (and only, so far) day of their long-awaited cruise. I'll let Barb speak for them in this one-minute synopsis that she wrote of their terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day. Try reading it aloud in a sing-song, Dick-and-Jane voice, as she intended.

 "Journey Day One: Seabrook to Sabine Pass

Barnacle Barb Fahrenholz

December 2013

Art and Barb prepare to drive their boat from Seabrook to Key West. The boat’s name is Work of Art. Their friend John is going too. Art goes to the doctor for motion sickness patches and comes home with the flu. Barb gets the flu too. They oversleep. They leave anyway. Tide is going out. The dock hits Work of Art and chunks off some fiberglass. A shackle scratches Jim’s boat. They make it to the fuel dock. Tide drops more. They leave the fuel dock. Current turns the boat around. They come about. They go out the wrong side of the bridge. A shrimp boat dodges them. Work of Art gets stuck in the bay. Sea Tow pulls her out. John drives all night to make up time. Seas rock and the boat rolls. Barb hugs the floor. Art can’t swallow. Waves crash over the bow. It’s dark. The engine dies. They set anchor. Art gets the engine started. They go to Sabine Pass and anchor out. Everyone goes to bed and sleeps for 14 hours."

Art and Barb are still there, anchored out near the Sabine Pass marina where they were docked for years, and where we stayed for almost a week at the very beginning of our cruise back in 2011. What is it about Sabine Pass that draws one back?  But they have a plan now, so their spirits are lifted.  Their Key West mast-installer will truck the mast to them and install it, which should enable them to carry on across the Gulf with a smoother ride.

It was great to see them and to know that their optimism about their great adventure is returning.