Saturday January 30: Finally - Warm Weather .... In the Dominican Republic!!

 We finally found the warm weather that has NOT been in Florida - it's in the Dominican Republic!!

Way more south than the Keys.

But first back to Banana Bay .....








First the seat on the dinette needed to be recovered. Can't have the seat back be nice and the seat still in need ....












So between Steve and I, the seat bottom (with new foam) was covered in more of the same material.




A good part of our storage is under this seat - access needed to still be easy. I think we accomplished the goal of having it look nice and still be easily removed.

Another project finished - and just in time for Pat and Becky to arrive.

They are headed to the Virgin Islands for a sailing adventure with friends but made the 3 hour detour south (from flying in to Ft. Lauderdale) to spend a couple of days with us here in cool-but-warmer-than-Ohio Marathon.






Staying with us on Yesterday's Dream gave them a good trial for staying on the catamaran they have rented with 3 other couples.

And of course we had to celebrate them finally coming to pay a visit :-)






The Keys experience included a trip to Bahia Honda State Park (with the camera forgotten of course) with a mandatory stop at Key's Fisheries for a seafood lunch.

It may seem like all we did was eat and drink but there was also the always informative tram ride at Crane Point for a bit of history of the area. And of course plenty of just being on the flybridge enjoying our new view of the bay (more on that we we return to the boat).

What a quick couple of days. There were also visits to the pool and hot tub.



And exercise for Steve, Pat and Becky, a kayak over to the mangroves. The water is not very clear though with all of the wind stirring it up but it was still a nice day for a paddle even though the sun never really broke through.




Their visit ended Thursday when we left for the three hour, turned into four hour, drive to the Ft. Lauderdale airport (it rained the whole way and multiple accidents really slowed the traffic). When we arrived the terminal was closed and evacuated (fire alarm had been pulled). What a mess!!!

But Pat and Becky made their flight, we made it to our hotel and flew out early Friday morning for a trip to the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. More on that at some point!!