CRUISE (cont.)

Page 5

 

During this extended stay in Fort Lauderdale, Denny did some maintenance on his port engine and in putting it back together, unbeknownst to Denny, an o-ring slipped off the after-cooler and the result was water in his engine.  Ahmet came from Naples and got the water out of the engine but assumed the after-cooler was leaking and could not be used.  By-passing the after-cooler meant Denny’s boat was limited to just 10 kph.  About this time Denise decided to return home so Denny, using a friend’s car, drove her back to Marco and continued the trip without his first mate.

 

By now we were three days behind schedule and were forced to cancel the Miami Beach stop-over and cut the Duck Key stop from two days to a one day visit.  However, if you have to be stuck somewhere, Fort Lauderdale isn’t too shabby a place to be.  While we were there, we enjoyed our days in the marina and the nearby shops and several nights took the water taxi to great dinners.  Certainly the annual “Christmas on Los Olas” event was a great evening for people watching and good food.

 

Finally on Saturday morning six of us left Fort Lauderdale (the Herndons had left a day before to visit friends at Key Largo).  As we exited Port Everglades, we encountered fairly rough seas heading to Duck Key but kept on going.  Because Denny was limited to 10 kph, and Herrins were limited by the loaner props, Cookin’ stayed behind with the two of them while the Burns, the Odenbachs and the Thomases and Keenans made their way to Duck Key.  Denise’s Hope, Cookin’, Our Lady and TenneSea Waltz arrived a bit later that evening.  On Saturday night we enjoyed being all together again and met for dinner in the marina.

 

On Sunday five of the seven boats returned to Marco while Denise’s Hope and Cookin’ remained in Duck Key another day just enjoying the resort and finished up the adventure with an outstanding dinner at The Hideaway Café.

 

On Monday morning Denise’s Hope and Cookin’ left Duck Key for Marco at a whopping 10 kph and after a ten-hour journey, finally arrived safely back at Marco.

 

While we certainly had our trials and tribulations, there wasn’t a single person that didn’t have a great time, and we all look forward to doing it again sometime.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the “Sadistic Seven”

 

Brent