May 5th: Was it something Linda said?

It seems like all of a sudden we are at Banana Bay by ourselves! Over the past few days the marina has really cleared out of "Snow Birds". Of course we too would be gone if we weren't waiting to rehab Linda's knuckle surgery.

The final exodus started in earnest this week.

First it was Pat and Craig on Silent Faith. They have a home in Stuart, FL and were returning home. Pat ran a catering business for a while and her special treats will be missed. Craig took me out in his dinghy to catch barracuda. We always thought we shouldn't eat barracuda but Craig told us less than 2 foot barracuda make great eating and are safe. They are very tasty! (The larger barracuda eat parrot fish which can contain toxins.) We don't usually do early, but they were leaving early so we set an alarm so we could wave goodbye and throw flowers as they left. (When someone throws flowers it means you must return.)

Next Sharon and Stephen on Stevedore, and Lois and Dennis on Mystified, were scheduled the next morning to leave at 7:00 AM. Sharon and Stephen are originally from Michigan and Dennis and Lois still have a house in New Jersey. Both were heading north for the summer. Again, we don't usually do 7:00 AM,  but we set the alarm so we could say "Bon Voyage"  Turns out that Dennis and Lois were apparently on island time.

The picture left is Terri, David, Stephen, my teak refinishing buddy Sharon, Linda and me waiting on the back of Stevedore for Dennis and Lois to start their engines.






 They eventually appeared to be ready so Stevedore left to lead the way.  The rest of us were on the other side of the marina helping Dennis and Lois off.

Mystified soon followed. Diana and Linda were waiting on the end of the dock to throw the "Bon Voyage" flowers.

Three down, one more to go the next day. Terri and David on TD Dream. They are originally from Mississippi but now live on the boat at Banana Bay. They were leaving for a trip to the Bahamas. They planned to leave around 8:00 AM but woke up to a beautiful windless day so they left at 7:00 AM. Linda woke up when she heard their engines running and I went out just in time to wave goodbye as they left the harbor. Didn't have time to get a picture, maybe next year! Flowers were not necessary -  we know they are coming back!

The next day we went to Key West to see Rosie, the wonderful physical therapist working with Linda. Beside being excellent at what she does she is a lot of fun. Even though Linda could drive herself to the appointment, I told her I would hate to miss the entertainment value of her sessions.

 At our last Clinic appointment, Dr. Friedman, her surgeon, said everything looked great and to do exactly what she did for her right hand. So Rosie  put Linda back on the same PT path as for her right hand. She'll get her mechanical splint Tuesday. Now its all about exercising patience for the next 8 weeks, but well worth it.