In April we closed out the 2023-24 sailing season at Grenada Marine where we hauled out Daggers Down for the hurricane season.
This summer we were planning to leave our home for many months, longer than we had ever left her before. Thus, there were a lot of preparations before we could put her to bed. We had to purge all the food from the boat. This took a couple of months of meal planning to ensure most of it was eaten prior to departure. The rest we donated to our local friends and other cruisers.
In addition, as we were leaving Daggers Down during hurricane season, we had to remove all the sails and canvas from the boat as well as cushions, and anything else that could blow away or catch wind and topple her. Grenada Marine offered a concierge service which would check on the boat monthly. However, we still needed to prepare for the inundation of mold because of the island’s humid environment and the inability to run the AC while on land. We set up dry-rid buckets and moved things around inside to allow for air flow. Fingers crossed this would be enough. Only time will tell.
Back in the USA
We both arrived back in Texas during the month of April. We had several things planned that we anticipated would be stressful, but we didn’t know the summer would be full of nailbiters. Luckily these did not come back-to-back, and we were able to enjoy our time back in the States despite holding our breath a few times!
Nailbiters 1 & 2
The first nailbiter business we had to address upon arrival in Texas was a thyroid biopsy for me. Five nodules were identified last fall during a neck MRI. If it was not one thing it was another, that’s for sure. Luckily, the biopsy was mostly a painless procedure completed in the doctor’s office using a sonogram. We all sighed with relief when the call came that indicated the nodules were benign. Whew! One less thing to worry about!
Now on to the second nailbiter of the summer, cervical surgery. The reason for the neck MRI was because my hands were going numb. At first the doctors determined elbow surgery was needed. However, once the MRI was reviewed, the doctors changed their minds and referred me to a spine surgeon. He indicated that the most conservative option I had was surgery and that the worst thing I could do was nothing. He attributed several other issues, besides my numb hands, to the pinched and swollen nerves in my neck. He felt the impingements were affecting my balance, gait and maybe some other pain I was having. Thus, we ended our sailing season two months early and scheduled the surgery. I’ve had more surgeries than you want to talk about, but this one was the scariest to me—a definite nailbiter!
Nevertheless, the surgeon knew his business and the procedure went as planned (except at this point my fingers are still numb—takes a while I’m told). In fact, it has been one of the easiest surgeries I’ve had with little to no pain afterwards. While it was inconvenient not being able to turn my head and exercise for a while, it did not impede much else. I could take care of my daily needs, fix meals and eat. So yay! Nailbiter number 2 is over!
After several weeks of physical therapy, the range of motion in my neck had improved greatly as well as my gait and balance. While my walking was not perfect, it was nice to be stronger and more confident in my abilities. I hope I’ll have the strength and balance to walk out of the surf now rather than crawling out!
Home for the Homeless
When our boat is on the hard, we are basically homeless as our Fort Worth house is rented. Luckily, we are blessed with some wonderful friends, Bill and Irene, who allowed us to stay with them before and after the surgery. During our time with them, we celebrated our 31st anniversary and Irene’s birthday. Ben even bought us some beautiful flowers, my favorite, yellow roses.
I also was fortunate to return to Texas just in time to see the solar eclipse that went right over DFW on April 8, 2024. It was a marvelous site to see using our special solar glasses. It was eerie how everything stilled, and the birds quieted as the moon passed between the earth and the sun darkening the sky during the mid-afternoon.
Staying with our friends gave us an opportunity to catch up on their lives and to revisit some favorite places in the Fort Worth area. For Memorial Day we went to a street festival in the cute town of Granbury and had lunch at a German restaurant. On another day, we all went to the wonderful Fort Worth Zoo. We enjoyed seeing the many animals from all over the world. As the day heated up, we found ourselves in the penguin exhibit.
Ben and I also took a road trip to Corpus Christi to see family and set eyes on the water again.
Then it was on to Houston to hang a bit with Deb and Ron and catch up with Gail who had moved back from Hawaii. We had a good time visiting and relearning to play cribbage.
On our way back to Fort Worth the call of kolaches and cobbler was too strong. We had to detour and make a Czech stop in West, Texas!
Staying Busy
One of the greatest oddities of being on land besides frequent hot showers, is not having any boat chores. Well Bill fixed Ben up. He didn’t want him to forget his skills. The two of them tackled cleaning up Bill and Irene’s Capri 26 that was in sore need of attention. This is what it looked like after the first day of power washing.
But don’t be dismayed because the guys persevered, and before Father’s Day, it was sparkling and ready to go!
Throughout the last several months, we have enjoyed visiting with friends and family. We were fortunate that surgery did not stop us from attending Will’s (our nephew) high school graduation dinner in College Station. This was far from a nailbiter as he graduated with no problem and would be attending Sam Houston State University in August. We could not be prouder!
Another Nailbiter!
June is the beginning of hurricane season which lasts through November. We had been told, by those in the know, that this could be an extremely active hurricane year, which was one of the reasons we hadn’t rushed back to the boat after surgery. However, we NEVER expected a Category 4 hurricane to make its way toward Grenada in JUNE!!!! This was the first time in history a hurricane of this magnitude had begun in the Atlantic this early.
Hurricane Beryl came barreling out of Atlantic basin with a vengeance straight towards Grenada and Daggers Down. I knew our Caribbean sailing days would be over if 150-160 mph winds passed over our boat. Not much could survive a hurricane of this magnitude. Not only were we worried about our home, but we were terrified for our cruiser friends and their boat homes as well as the islanders! Many of the cruisers sailed south to Trinidad to escape the fury, but others stayed and prepared for the worst.
As Beryl wobbled just north of Grenada, we began to breath again…. Southern Grenada was spared from the worst of Beryl’s wrath. We felt even better when we finally got picture confirmation that Daggers Down was sitting pretty, strapped to her blocks. Whew, what a nailbiter.
All our friends survived as well as their floating homes. However, the islands where the eye passed over and those on the north side of the storm did not fare as well. Many of the islands were decimated and several others received severe damage. It was simply heart wrenching that on some islands at least 85-95% of the homes were damaged and unlivable. These beautiful islands were laid barren by Beryl and would take years to recover.
At present there was not much that Ben and I could do to help but send monetary aid. However, it was heartening to observe the cruisers as well as many other organizations and countries jumping in to provide assistance by delivering provisions and volunteering with clean up.
I am not posting any pictures in this blog because there are multiple You Tubes and pictures on Facebook for those who are interested. In addition, you may want to check out these two blog posts written by our cruiser friends on SV Seascape who were in the area when Beryl passed over. Their extensive insights and information are excellent.
Escape with Seascape
Hurricane Beryl, part 1-On the Run
Hurricane Beryl, part 2-impact and aftermath
Seascape also indicated several ways to donate to the relief effort. I would plea for those who can, to donate to one of the many organizations who are fervently working to assist these resilient people as they rebuild.
As the hurricane season is young, we also pray that havoc like the disaster seen in Grenada and the Grenadines is not seen anywhere else this year.
Home 2 for the Homeless
Another set of our wonderful land-based friends, Wendy and Paul, offered us a housesitting opportunity while they were away on vacation. We jumped at the chance to hang in their lovely house in the heart of the city. The back yard was so amazingly peaceful. Yet we were just a stone’s throw from downtown Fort Worth.
In addition, we enjoyed the fruits of their garden. Fresh tomatoes were one of life’s joys. There was nothing quite like a homegrown tomato. The eggplant, peppers and figs were exceptional too.
Wendy even had some boat chores for Ben so that he would not get bored. He sanded and stained the wood on her sailboat. It looks delightful now. We were happy we were able to help our friends in return for providing us with accommodations!
Final Nailbiter of the summer (at least we hope so)!
Ben and I practically live outside much of the year on our boat where we diligently try to protect ourselves from the sun’s harmful rays. Nevertheless, it was prudent to visit a dermatologist whenever we were in the States. This year Ben went for the first time. To our dismay, each of us had a spot that needed to be biopsied. We tried to focus on positive thoughts, but when the phone rang with results, it definitely increased our blood pressure.
I was relieved when I was told the biopsy was negative and all was well. However, when Ben received his call, the news was not as pleasant. The doctor insisted that we not leave on the road trip we had planned, but that he come to the office and have an area removed. Boo Hiss, but what needed to be done, needed to be done. Thus, we canceled our travel plans and made the appointment. Luckily his “cancer” was caught at its earliest stage—stage 0. So, after being excised, no further treatment was necessary. Nevertheless, it was a wake-up call to pay more attention to our skin and to sun protection when we were outdoors.
Whew! That is enough nailbiters for one summer, at least I hope they are over!
Our planned road trip was reconstituted into a plane trip. It will be nice to get out of hot Texas for a bit in August. Although Ben and I find the heat more tolerable now that we have lived several years in the Caribbean.
We were looking forward to our return to the islands, but we were fortunate to have had the opportunity to reconnect with so many friends and family members after 4 years of cruising on Daggers Down. Let’s hope that the islands remain safe for the rest of this hurricane season! NO MORE NAILBITERS this year, please!
Thanks for being patient with us getting this blog together and posted. As you can see it’s been a busy summer. We are looking forward to another adventurous sailing season and hope that you will tag along.
Also, don’t forget to look under the Recipe tab online as I have posted several new recipes this summer for your enjoyment. All are boat friendly with items that can be readily found on the islands.
