I've been faced with a great deal of uncertainty on many accounts since arriving in Key West a week ago, yet have felt powerless to do anything but play the waiting game.
On my way back to the waterfront I ended up on a tour of dead-end roads, which provided many pleasant surprises, including some of the most charming homes of any I've seen in Florida. There's hundred of roosters that are free-range in Key West, which adds some atmosphere. They're protected; its 'unlawful' to mess with them, and one of many explanations I've heard is that this is the last place in America for cock fighting to be banned, and one day they were all just set free. Effie's unaware of state laws, and now that we've come dockside and she is roaming free, I'm half expecting to find a mangled pile of feathers on my pillow when I get home.
I've not been sharing much of my story lately because of the uncertainty and how things are changing so fast. Like the letters you write to a friend, but never send, because they're outdated and inaccurate by the time you buy the stamps.
One of my current crew is my sister Katie. Yes, the same Katie McCrossin who, when asked in September to help me sail from Nova Scotia to Cuba responded, "That old wooden thing? She'll never make it...". The weather sure has been nice and the waters warm since she arrived in West Palm Beach.
And just to make things confusing, my other crew is my friend Katie. Together, I call them Katie-squared. Katie and I sailed on a couple of tall ships together, first on Highlander Sea (my first sailing experience) and later on Eye of the Wind, where together we sailed the Caribbean, then crossed the Atlantic to Denmark.
So with Katie-squared and Muskrat Willie (my strange and usually random sister has re-named Effie), we will sail to Cuba. Eventually. Probably. More than likely. I may or may not elaborate later.