Hello Everyone,
It has been a long, long time since we updated our blog
site. Looks like February 11th
was our last input.
Well as some of you know our lives’ have been action packed
since then. Bottom line - Gerry is
getting well, but our latest venture to the Abacos had to be interrupted.
Gerry somehow developed AFib with her heart which is an abnormal
heartbeat condition. So, not too many
days after our last blog input we visited a health clinic in Hope Town, where
we had gone to observe the Songwriter’s Festival activities, and that led to a
visit with a physician on Great Abaco Island who initially diagnosed Gerry’s
condition on February 15th as Bronchitis, then on February 27th
as a situation that warranted seeing a Cardiologist, and then our flying back
to Charleston, SC to be seen by a Cardiologist on March 2, 2018.
Gerry is responding excellently to the medications she has
been prescribed. At this point her
Cardiologist does not think any invasive procedures to her heart are
necessary. She has had numerous blood
tests and an Echogram. Initially, she
would easily tire and be out of breath and be coughing a lot because of fluid
buildup in her lungs. Sleeping at night
was uncomfortable for her so she was not well rested. Now that she is mostly back to normal,
tomorrow she will undergo a Nuclear Stress Test to see how well her heart is
performing.
Meanwhile our friend Rolando Sosa flew back with me on March 14th
to retrieve Galileo from Boat Harbor at the Abaco Beach Resort in Marsh
Harbor. We had a good weather window and
were able to return in 4 days back to Ft. Pierce, Florida on March 18th
where we keep the boat in Harbour Isle Marina.
On March 18th we traveled with two (2) other Island Packets,
Pepromenon an IP-31 and Blue Sky an IP-380 back to Ft. Pierce. They left slightly before us from Boat Harbor
on March 15th but we caught up with them at West End on March 17th
so the next day I decided to caravan with them back to the U.S. East
coast. We departed around 0320 in the
dark from West End. Was not my favorite
crossing of the Gulf Stream but Rolando and I survived. This excursion with Rolando gave me the opportunity
to develop a much, much, better appreciation of Gerry’s organizational skills
of stores stock aboard Galileo and her culinary skills as now I was the one in
charge of keeping Rolando and me alive with nourishment during our return
voyage.
So tomorrow we shall see what Gerry’s heart status is and go
from there as far as future long-range travel planning is concerned.
We do plan to return to our townhouse in Maryland this
weekend and settle down for a while.
Meanwhile here are some pictures of our adventures while in
the Abacos.
Here is an overall depiction of where we go when we go to the Abacos in the northern Bahamas
As mentioned above we did partake in the Songwriter’s
Festival.
While in Hope Town we saw a yacht reminiscent of boats that
were built in our old hometown of Salisbury, Maryland which I initially thought
was a Chris Craft but turned out to be one of the original Berger boats. This one was 53 feet long and had just turned
50 years old. It was being restored by a
Berger enthusiast who then resales them.
Nice boat for her age. It reminded me of Ellie and Paul Ennis of Salisbury. Paul used to work for Chris Craft there years ago. Ellie introduced Gerry and me for a blind date and it appears to have worked almost 45 years later
The night before all this started with Gerry we enjoyed a Valentine's Day dinner.
We were able to attend the Royal Marsh Harbor Yacht Club
2018 Commodore’s Ball at the Abaco Beach Research.
While in Marsh Harbor we observed a Pay Phone setup that accepted credit cards to make phone calls. Never have seen Pay Phones configured this way. They were not operational but still interesting.
A Ferry Boat excursion over to Man-Of-War Cay to attend a
Flea Market Festival shows a group of colorful Conch Shells drying on a dock.
Here is Rolando and me having a light moment the night
before departing to return to Florida enjoying a gift furnished earlier as a
bon-voyage to Gerry and me before leaving for the Abacos by good friends Jan
and Larry Moser.
Gerry had a break from her cardiology treatment so we returned to
Ft. Pierce, FL for eight (8) days to button up Galileo and get her teak work
refinishing underway while we are in Maryland for the next couple of
months. Here she is at the Georgia Rt 95
Visitor Center.
Then we returned to Charleston for more visits this week with her Cardiologist. This is one of our favorite bridges.
We can’t say enough about the expertise of her Cardiologist and
all of her medical support team here in Charleston. When we discovered her condition in the
Abacos they responded within a day and found her the specialist that she
needed.
In closing we have to thank a number of people who made this year's excursion to the Abacos a smooth success. Amy and Richard Meekins who faithfully have watched over our townhouse and mail back home in Cambridge. Jan and Larry Moser and Tucky and Bruce Franz who have wished us well along the way. Ellen Whitford for hosting us in Savannah. Dave VanCleve for his assistance with Galileo during her bottom painting return run from the boatyard. Rolando Sosa for helping bring Galileo home to Ft. Pierce, Florida. And to our host Rebecca here in Charleston for her AirB&B hospitality during our 'medical emergency' as we expressed our housing need when we first met her. And lastly all the members of the Rossi/Nardi Clan (Shana, Aaron, Josh, Jordan, Sabin, Marina, Tonks, Frank, Brenda, Clarine, Dave, and Vonda) for their patience with our sailing passion.
Stay Warm, it's still winter out there,
Gerry & Larry
Gerry & Larry
Team Galileo