Days 71-75 - 15 thru 19 February

We are still at Lake Worth, having arrived here almost a week ago. Initially, we were waiting for a weather window to open up which it did and we were poised and ready to head out for the Gulf Stream on Friday, the 15th, but as we all know...Murphy Lives! My Destiny developed a leak in her high pressure fuel injector pump that we all decided should be addressed before getting caught in the Gulf Stream with no engine. So we moved from the Lake Worth South anchorage back to the Lake Worth North anchorage while My Destiny pulled in to the Old Port Cove Marina nearby. After a nice day laying quietly at anchor, we also moved to the Marina and have been here for the past several days while the repairs were completed in a Palm Beach injector diesel repair shop nearby.

Greg reinstalled the injector pump and successfully tested the engine. Meanwhile, some problems began showing up with My Destiny's new refrigeration system and house battery bank...did we say, "Murphy Lives?" So here we are at the Marina, watching the weather and getting the mechanical and electrical work accomplished.

Since we've lost almost a week, we've collectively decided not to head for the Bahamas. The $300 cruising permit would be mostly wasted since we only have a limited amount of time to cruise before heading home for a date with the IRS in April...what's wrong with this picture?

However, both Team My Destiny and Team Windreka have complicated income tax returns this year. For our part, we have income and owe taxes to two states...Ohio and Virginia; we retired; we sold a house in Virginia and purchased a retirement home in Ohio; we began drawing social security income; we rolled over our 401K retirement funds to a new financial manager; etc. So, we don't know how to complete our income tax returns without the assistance of a tax accountant.

So, we've decided to defer Bahamas cruising until next winter. Instead we plan to spend the rest of this cruise in the Florida Keys. We haven't been there and all reports say they are the equivalent of the Bahamas without a cruising permit and without the internet access gaps we expected in the Bahamas.

If all goes well...and if Murphy has had his share of fun with us...we'll head south on Thursday morning. The good news is we have almost achieved the conditions described by the title of our weblog...Hauling for Better Weather. The mid-70s temperatures and sunny, warm days make us believe we are nearly there. When we think about the frigid, stormy weather back home, we think we've succeeded...and hopefully, the best is yet to come. Stay with us!