Happy New Year to all 68’ers,

Pam and I finally got our Gemini catamaran down to Key West. The trip was long, slow, generally uneventful, and always scenic. The trip is recorded in our blog at tikicatkeywest.blogspot.com. We’re now in a marina slip at the KW Naval Air Station, which is located on Boca Chica Key, right around mile marker 8 on US-1. Sad to report my only fishing success since arrival in KW has been five barracuda caught on one outing – all barely big enough to cut some strips for bait. I learned that barracuda are like little boys – they’re really hot for things that are shiny and fast (kind of like cadets and Corvettes). Anyhow... the Navy’s aggressor squadron is stationed here at KW, and when the fleet units come to town to fight, the base and the marina are daily treated to the roar of afterburners on takeoff and jets in the traffic pattern. The sound of freedom, right!

As I write this I am back in Virginia to celebrate the New Year and to give Pam some support. Her Mom, who lives in Boston, fell and broke her hip – at age 91 – and Pam has spent the last few weeks up there running in and out of hospitals and the nursing home. Rehab is going slowly for her Mom, so we’re uncertain how much time Pam will have for KW this winter, and how much she’ll have to be in Boston. Additionally – good news - my youngest daughter has announced that she is getting married early May. This means we’ll all want to be back home no later than March to help her with preparations. In spite of real-world complications – the good news and the bad - the great thing is that we had a wonderful delivery of the boat, and should be well positioned next winter to really try out the snowbird role.