It's A Small World After All!

Scott noticed a boat just like ours(a few years older)at a pier across the Manatee Pocket from our marina. It had a new paint job, and Scott kept taking the dinghy by it, to check the boat out up close. One day, when we were making our way back from the sandbar, we noticed someone on the bow of the boat, and headed over. We met Mick Ward, and his wife, Sue, who are from North Whales(Great Britain). They were in the process of buying the boat(Jenny).

The motor needed some repair, which the current owner was having done. The mechanic doing the work was definitely on island time, and as the days wore on, Sue and Mick were growing frustrated with paying to live in a local hotel. Phil, the boat's owner, invited them to live on board Jenny while the motor was being repaired, saving them the hotel stay.

It turns out that Mick and Sue have good friends who live on a boat in the Baltimore harbor. In addition to many other spots along the East Coast as well as across the Atlantic, the four of them have spent many years cruising the Chesapeake Bay. SMALL WORLD!! We have become friends and have really enjoyed spending time with them. Mick has pointed out that you can tell that the four of us are all definitely boat people. We've crawled around each others boats, looking under beds, in cabinets and closets and closely inspecting plumbing. There have been endless questions and sharing of information, as well as measuring. That doesn't really happen when you go to someone's house and get a tour, "Can I look in your closets? Can I look at your sewage disposal system?" Scott ended up surveying Jenny for his final class project. He and Mick are very like minded, as far as boating and mechanical things. Here is a photo of the official survey delivery!

Mick and Sue also keep a motorsailer in Turkey. It's about a four hour flight from Whales, and they spend time on that boat in the Spring and Fall. We have received an invitation to come and visit them for some boating on the Mediterranean Sea...will have to seriously think about that one!

Mick and Sue plan to keep Jenny on land(on the hard)in Indiantown, Fl., which is a 30 minute drive from here by car. The motor work was FINALLY finished last week, and Scott and his friend Jeff(visiting from Baltimore for the weekend) joined Mick, Sue and a few others for the trip by boat. They traveled out of the pocket, down the south fork of the St. Lucie River(which is also part of the Okeechobee Waterway), and through the the lock at the St. Lucie canal, before getting to Indiantown Marina. Mick and Sue will be keeping Jenny on land at the marina until they can get back to the US, in November. They are only allowed to visit here for three months, so tomorrow is there last day here. We're really going to miss their company!