It's time for a break! I am on my way to NY tonight. Tom and Ken will watch 
Boundless at the Marina near Ken's place. We should be on our way in about a 
week. So, you won't need to put up with the saga of the Schwenkers for a 
while! But first....

Yesterday, our 12th day from Ft. Lauderdale, March 7th, Tom and I woke early 
in Ken's place. The first night I have been off of Boundless since mid 
January. We left Ken's dock in his Boston Whaler for the 13 mile trip to 
Boundless. The tide was on the way out already but I needed to verify the 
water depth where the Folly River meets the inlet before I make the trip in 
Boundless. The depth was just adequate and we had a chance to verify the 
channel into the marina and along the Stono River. We would need at least 
mid tide to make the passage and no waves! The forecast for the day was nice 
with increasing winds to 20 to 25 SE with gusts, and much worse at 
night...thunder storms and 40 to 50 mph winds again! I wondered what that 
would do to the inlet.

We did some cleaning and boat work before we left the marina near Charleston 
at 2:15pm for the trip to the Folly River. The tide was coming in and the 
wind was against us. It was 10 miles to the entrance to the river. It took 
us 3 hours! I was worried about the sea state so I was prepared to turn 
around if the conditions were hazardous. No problem! The seas were slight 
and we had 3 feet of water under our keel at the lowest spot. Then it was to 
the marina and a dinner ashore and another night at Ken's.

Now it was time to relax....I thought. We had a good meal. Talked about 
other escapades. My brother Charlie kept jumping into the conversation. He 
passed away several years ago and we all miss him very much, but we all 
think about him often. I know he would be with us so the three of us toasted 
him at dinner! He knows he is always with us...in fact, we keep using his 
lines...."hey, is that you?" "it's a freakin miracle", etc. After dinner it 
was a bit of TV....Tom and I fell asleep! Then to bed.

Tuesday, March 8th, a special day. I am not relaxed any more. Severe storm 
warnings are now predicted for late morning. Some of the storms have winds 
of 50 to 70 mph! Tom and I hustled down to Boundless to add some lines and 
prepare for some wind. We could see the line of severe storms coming but we 
were ready. We were just about to leave the boat to check on a couple of 
other boats that looked like they were moving too much in the sustained 30 
to 35 mph winds and 2 to 3 ft waves hitting the docks. Just as we stepped on 
the dock the storms hit and we retreated to the cockpit to watch and wait. 
Soon we heard a cannon shot and looked at the staysail on the boat next to 
us as it unfurled and ripped in several places. We waited for the winds to 
drop from 50 to about 25 before we even attempted to get the sail down. We 
also put some additional lines on some other boats that seemed to be in 
danger. The marina personnel called a couple of owners to let them know 
their boats were in jeopardy due to frayed or inadequate lines in the high 
winds. All in a days work!

Now to packing and getting ready for NY!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHARLIE!!!