Fall 2023

 While the big event this fall was the loading of Voila! On to her ship, there were a few other events of note. Having made the decision to ship Voila!, it turned our normal calendar around. Lots of family activities including a trip to New Brunswick to see Christina and Ken over Canadian Thanksgiving. As we drove around, we looked at cruising opportunities in the area. We would be on this side of the pond for the foreseeable future. It was a fun place to stock up on wool as well. We also discovered what a small world this is. Thanks to Facebook we discovered that some sailing friends were in the area. 

Sandra and Barrie are from Vancouver Island and we are from Montreal but we met for lunch, a walk and some shopping in Fredricton NB. It was so much fun catching up.

One of the things we had not expected when we booked Voila’s passage was how often the date would change.  Originally we were advised we would be loading on Dec 7. This would have the ship arrive in Fort Lauderdale just before Christmas. Getting reservations might be a challenge but it would work. Then we were informed that we would be loaded during the 3rd week of November and arrive in Florida Dec 7. That date seemed to hold for a while so we planned an early Xmas celebration with the family. I guess it was the one time I have all of my Xmas shopping done that early. Just before the date arrived we received a notice of loading for Dec 15. Our friend Mike was very patient through all of this as he would be the one delivering our boat to its ship. The predicted arrival was now Jan 7. Christmas would be moved back to the traditional date.  

One of the challenges we found was trying to get all of the ducks in a row. Although Peters and May repeatedly told us not to make any arrangements until the ship was unloaded, it was difficult not to have flight, AirBNB, and marina plans. Two of our daughters were trying to plan separate visits to us in the Bahamas.

We found it particularly challenging to find a marina that would give us a reservation. We finally just arrived in Florida on Jan 4th and started to visit the places that told us “maybe”. Cooley’s Landing finally made a commitment and we had a slip. 

Winter snow arrived in early December but then decided it was too early and disappeared. We endured lots of rain and ice as we did our Xmas baking and preparations for the holidays.

Last minute knitting with the yarn from New Brunswick to make sure most of the family received hand made gifts under the tree. Alan also did some home made gifts in the workshop/garage.

Alan managed one day on the downhill ski slopes with the grandchildren  before we left. 

This time we were packing shorts and T-shirts for our trip not hats and mittens. You would think that with the number of times we have done this, it would get easier but there is always a mad panic. Our visiting daughter took us to the airport for 3 a.m. on Jan 4th.