The last week in Florida is special and intensive because of the busy schedule of preparations for our departure, the lots of rain and thunderstorms and saying goodbye to everything that has become dear to us in Florida.
The weather is exceptionally bad, our worst week so far, with just a few days of grey skies, lots of rain and an annoying clammy humidity. Time to leave before the hot summer really starts here!
Marinthe doesn't have a normal tennis day because of the bad weather; the afternoons are all off and the Monday morning also because of rain and the Thursday morning because of a day in Orlando. Too bad to have this in the last week. On Friday morning she says goodbye to everyone who's there and hands out treacle waffles (they all like them here 😋). Bye Evert Academy, we'll miss you, this was definitely a wonderful place for Marinthe, but also for me, a wonderful place to be.
Eline has a cozy and filled week with Diede, Graduation and saying goodbye to everyone. Diede is a cheerful and easy guy and the ladies spend a lot of time together. They go to Frt Lauderdale, to Miami Beach (with public transport), to the beach and sit / lie by the pool. And there is a lot of chatting and laughing. Doing nice things actually goes pretty well between all the rains.
On Thursday we get up very early and drive with the five of us three hours to Orlando to visit the two Universal parks. Fortunately it's not that busy because Europe has no holiday, the schools here are still going on and it rains all afternoon. We spend the day very efficiently and do a lot with the two Harry Potter attractions as a highlight. Beautifully made! In the afternoon we look up the indoor attractions and walk outside with those cheap brightly colored raincapes around 😅. The way back in the rain is very intensive driving with the busy 'Florida'-traffic that is bad and dangerous by Dutch standards. No, we won't miss the traffic in Florida 😅.
On Friday afternoon Eline says goodbye to her swimming team. She also hands out treacle waffles that are very popular. On Saturday morning we take Diede to the airport in Miami. The week has flown over! Once we're home we immediately drive on to Eline's 'Graduation' ceremony. We're in a very big hall (there are 800 graduates who are all allowed to bring 5 guests). It's a real American event with all the students, including Eline in 'cap and gown'. Several speeches, also from the best five students and then all students walk in front of each other to receive their diplomas. Nice and special to see at the end of the school year. After the ceremony we have dinner with the four of us in the Cheese Cake Factory and then we bring Eline to the Graduation Party at school, which lasts all night and at 6.15 in the morning she's back home after a very successful party where she also says goodbye to all her 'senior friends'.
Toine and I are busy with all the preparations for the sailing trip home. At the beginning of the week Toine builds in the heat camera, hangs it in the mast for hours and I hoist it in and out. Kick it if it works right away after two days of struggling 👍. I test the computer on the boat to retrieve weather information with Iridium Go (just like we will do at sea on the way), do a lot of shopping, do a lot of washing, prepare some hot meals for freezing and clean the house. Halfway through the week the desks are removed and the two Macs are back on the small table. We also put as much stuff as possible on the boat.
The water maker arrives Friday afternoon by mail and then Toine immediately starts with the installation. He has done all the thinking beforehand. This also takes a lot of slaving with liters of sweat that he loses in the clammy heat. Again kick that this also works in one go and finished exactly on time, 5 minutes before the 'goodbye' drink starts on Sunday 😎.
During the 'goodbye' drink we say goodbye to Harrie and Lily, the three neighbours (Phil/Jahn, Steve/Lisa and Oscar/Magie), my English teacher Lisa and her husband and friend Maya (also Dutch) from Eline's school. Very cozy and a great closure!
Monday morning we put all the last things on the boat and arrange the last things in the house to leave it neat and tidy. At 13.45 we get on the boat and 'just' sail away as we came with just enough draught in the canal (the last bit we drag ourselves through the mud). Bye Deerfield Beach and bye ICW!
We can go straight outside through the Hillsboro Inlet Bridge. There's a nice swell and we make a good first blow. Then we put the boat on course towards West Palm Beach and sail north with half wind and reef 1. The calm descends on us and we let all the hustle and bustle of the last week slip away from us. We look back on a fantastic period in Florida and look forward to a great new adventure; the return home!