Just when we were ready to commence the long trip home to Australia, via the Panama
Canal and the Pacific, we were offered the chance of a lifetime which we couldn't refuse.
We are working for a Chicago businessman who also has a home in Fort Lauderdale with a beautiful, restored, 80ft wooden motor boat moored at his private
dock. It was originally built in 1937 and used to ply the waters of Long Island Sound as a private
ferry. It has taken four years for the restoration which includes a mahogany interior and every
conceivable electronic device. Peter is Captain and Maureen is "crew" - so nothing has changed - except that we get paid for doing what we love.
Peter is overseeing the final preparations and we have taken the boat for sea
trials with some interesting results.
The owner urged Peter to increase speed, against Peter's better judgment and the turbo charger on one engine (it has two 400 horse power engines) caught
fire. We are now experts at fire drill.
Luckily, we had the mechanic on board who made temporary repairs which enabled us to limp back to port, under the expert driving of Captain
Peter. The owner was most impressed and agrees that the Captain knows best.
The boat is, basically, a river boat and we shall take it to Chicago via the Intra Coastal
Waterway, which we know so well, New York, the Hudson River and the Great
Lakes.
We shall spend the summer in Chicago showing the boat off and taking the owner and family on trips on the Great Lakes.
We are both excited about visiting Chicago - hope that we don't run into any of Al Capone's family- as we have never been there.
In the fall (autumn) we shall return to Fort Lauderdale, maintain the boat and take the owner and family on short
trips. With all this talk of luxury it may seem that we have sold our souls for the "Yankee
dollar". Not so, the true love of our lives 'Mahe' will be hauled out for a well earned rest and dry out
- she has been in the water continuously since her launch in 1994 - while we are in
Chicago.
While in Fort Lauderdale we live on 'Mahe' who is moored at a private dock on a
canal. It is an energetic half hour walk to work which Maureen enjoys.
Peter rides his bicycle.
Maureen's daughter, Simone, has just returned to Australia after a hectic month with
us. It was such a special time as we had not seen her since she visited us in Greece & Turkey three & a half years ago.
The highlight of her visit was a trip to the Kennedy Space Centre at Cap Canaveral to see the launch of the space shuttle,
Discovery. It lifted off around 6.30am then we spent a full day at the Centre which is just amazing and offers an insight into the building and preparation of the space vehicles.
From there we drove to Orlando for three days and had great fun visiting Disneyworld, and other attractions, with Peter and Simone taking the more thrilling rides while Maureen waved to
them. Huge seas do not daunt her but rollercoasters do!
Simone and Maureen last visited Mickey Mouse when Simone was eleven years old and they have made a pact to visit him again in twenty years
time. (Do you think that Maureen will make it?)(Ed: Yes,
definitely, and twenty years after that too, we hope!)
Miami is twenty two miles south of Fort Lauderdale.
We had two trips there with Simone who just loved the art deco area of South Beach, with
its sidewalk cafes and restaurants. We had a favourite sidewalk cafe where we enjoyed watching the passing parade of all types and nationalities.
We were so sad to say farewell to Simone and look forward to her next visit.
As usual, our thanks to family and friends who
e-mail us.
We treasure them (the friends, family and e-mails). We never seem to catch up on personal replies and now that we are working it is difficult to find time to go to the library to
e-mail.
The Great Adventure has taken a different turn and, although much of it is now land locked, it is still
exciting. The most important aspect is still the interesting people that we meet, the places that we visit and the knowledge that we never know what the future holds.
With love
Maureen and Peter
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