We're in Florida for a week and we're in the middle of settling down. Looking back on the first week we are very satisfied. Every day we achieve something. But we're not there yet. The most settled we are already in our house with the boat in the backyard. It is wonderful to live here and that already feels very familiar. We also find it quite easy to find a good tennis school for Marinthe. The most difficult thing is to find a good 'high school' for Eline. But also there seems to be a good solution now.
Every day it's an experience we can arrange and in the meantime we get to know the neighbourhood quite well. Driving is very easy and finding our way around is also possible because most streets are logically north-south or east-west. We look forward to all the typical American things that are so different than in the Netherlands, like big cars, wide roads, the relaxed behaviour in traffic, big shops, refrigerator where you can get ice cubes and filtered water, etcetera.
We also take up sports again, the girls regularly play tennis in the neighbourhood park where you can play for free, Marinthe also does a lot of muscle and core stability exercises. Mira and Eline are going to run and in 1,5 weeks time they will participate in a 5K running competition (persuaded by a Dutch man who works in a sports shop and whom we get to know when we buy some stuff for Marinthe). Mira also explores the area by bike. After sports it is great to take a dip in the pool. Toine does various jobs on the SeaQuest and repairs 'the reverse' (attaches a new torque cable), the buttons on the steering position and replaces the white rear light.
The weather is very varied but usually fine to stay outside. Very warm (above 30 degrees Celsius) or nice and warm (around 25 degrees Celsius), sunny or cloudy, a rainstorm or huge downpours, strong wind or no wind ... something different every day. This is because we are in the transition from the warm summer weather with heavy showers to the more stable and slightly less warm winter weather.
The first priority is customs clearance. We drive by car from Jack to Fort Lauderdale and we can clear customs at the Executive Airport. We get a stamp in our passport that we are allowed to stay for 6 months (until 20 April 2018). A nice milestone, we are here legally! And no sir, of course you can't ask for approval for 8 months right now. That's illegal. If we want to stay longer we have to apply for an extension early next year. Absolutely right and actually as expected!
The rest of the first weekend we use for clearing the boat and decorating the house. Toine spends a lot of time securing the boat. The boat lies here between two poles and has to move with the tide of 90 cm. With a long board between the poles and the fenders and the right length lines for high and low tide it will be fine.
Jackie takes us to shops and the beach and tells us a lot about what to do where and how best to drive. A great first introduction to this area. We take J&J out for dinner in a steakhouse along the ICW where we can sit outside and get some very serious steaks!
Sunday afternoon the two neighbors come by for a drink. Super nice to get to know them. Oscar and Maggie live on the east side of us. Steve and Lisa with their sons Jake (22 yr) and Hunter (16 yr) live on the west side. Nice people who are very hospitable, we can always come by for questions. They all work and have busy lives, so we will not see each other very much, but it is nice to know each other. In the evening we bring J&J to the airport in Fort Lauderdale for their flight back to Canada. Mid November they come here again for a week. And then suddenly we have the empire alone. A nice moment to watch the semi-finals of Heel Holland Bakt 😉.
The most important thing on Monday is clearing the boat. For this we drive to Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale. That is a hassle, because they don't accept our copy of the title deed and the original is at home in the Netherlands. Everywhere we could go with the plasticized copy, but not here. We get permission to be in Broward County (from Deerfield Beach to Fort Lauderdale) and 3 miles on the sea, but no further. We don't get a cruisingpermit for the rest of America until we show the original proof of ownership. Luckily Toine has to be in the Netherlands early November for some business appointments. Then he can immediately take the title deed with him. Until then we have no plans to continue with the boat. Also with the boat we are now legally in the country so the American guest flag can do it.
On the way back we stop at the BMW dealer for a first check of the prices ... and three hours later we're the owner of a white BMW 528i from 2013. It's more than half cheaper here than in the Netherlands. Besides that we only have to look at the difference between buying and selling price in 7 months time. And that amount is expected to be much lower than the cost of renting a car. You don't have to pay road tax here and the insurance is very affordable. One day later we pick up the car when the money has been transferred. Lovely to be able to drive around here in your own car. Especially because almost everything has to be done by car.
On Tuesday we are looking for a tennis school for Marinthe. We have a very good feeling at the Evert Tennis Academy. They have an excellent full-time program for a group of 12-18 year olds. Lots of tennis, fitness and mental training and also some hours of time for school. That seems ideal for Marinthe with for school two subjects of 5 VWO (physics and chemistry) through the World School. Next week she starts with an 'evaluation week' and runs the full program. If there is a 'click' and she likes it mutually, then this is a great solution for Marinthe for the next 6-8 months. A lot of tennis and strong training, but that's what she wants as well. But we will have to wait and see next week. Following the two courses through the Wereldschool is easy. There is just a whole package of books and some practical materials to go with it. Toine can take them with her from the Netherlands at the beginning of November.
We already knew that finding a good school for Eline won't be easy. The public schools in our Broward County are not that good. Shouldn't we go for a private school? We'll contact North Broward Prep High School, the school the boy next door goes to. That's a fine school, but you can't just go there. First they want to do a check based on the grades of all high school years and a proficiency test if her English is sufficient. We send all the information, including her diploma from Cambridge Advanced. After two days we hear that she can't be admitted. They do not accept students during the final year of school with a chance of not being able to pass and they are not allowed to start a lower class. Well, we know that, then. So what now? Trying to get into a public high school in Boca Raton? That's a richer town north of Deerfield Beach, and the public schools are good there. We also get that confirmation from the Dutch guy from the sports shop who offers to rent a room with him if necessary. Mira calls the school district of Palm Beach County to explain our situation, that we are here by boat and are looking for a school for Eline. We get the opportunity to enroll her at the Boca Raton High School and that is good news! First condition is an approved health check, and after that we can make an appointment for the intake.
An extensive health check is also necessary for the tennis school. After some phone calls we get an appointment with a family doctor scheduled for Friday morning. After 1,5 hours of waiting it's our turn and the girls are screened on all sides by a chilly lady with a Spanish speaking background. Unfortunately she can't agree because we don't have the exact dates of the vaccinations with us. And with Eline she has some doubts about the stiffness of her back?!
Luckily Erik can send the inoculations later that day, so that will be fine. For the inspection of Eline we visit a CVS store on the advice of the highschool. We meet a very nice doctor, an accessible man with an African background. The vaccinations are good, only she needs an extra tetanus shot which she gets on the spot (and which she still suffers from two days later 😥). Maybe also the 2nd and 3rd prick for hepatitus B (when we went on a trip in 2009 we only got the 1st prick and because of time constraints not the 2nd and 3rd prick), but that's for the school to decide. This doctor approves her without further ado. For Marinthe we go back to the family doctor this morning with the vaccination card. After an hour of waiting Marinthe gets approval (tetanus is not necessary for her), with possibly also a 2nd and 3rd shot of hepatitis. That should be determined by the tennis school. Uh huh, one day further and both girls have a well rounded health test. We celebrate that with a nice dinner at a very good steakhouse in Boca Raton.
Toine calls regularly for work and decorates his office with a desk on which the 2 iMacs can stand. They have survived the trip by boat well. After a few days of living in the house, we also know what we want to buy for the next 3/4 years. Such as a deep fryer 😎, laundry rack, laundry basket, frying pan, small kitchen knives, tablecloth, table and chair room Marinthe, etc. We buy all that stuff at the Walmart. We also know how to order online via Amazon.com.
In the evening we watch the episodes of Heel Holland Bakt and Expeditie Robinson, also last week's episodes, and we are back to square one. Today we also follow the race of Max Verstappen via Ziggo TV on the iPad to the TV here in the living room.
Tropical Storm Philippe crossed south Florida last night and night. With us that translates into a lot of rain. The water comes out of the sky for hours on end. We haven't experienced that very often. Luckily the house can handle it very well. Also the boat is securely moored. Only the pool is almost overflowing and that is solved when Toine unblocked the overflow this morning.
We're so glad we're already here when we look at the weather charts for the coming week. Both the crew and we sailed nicely between all kinds of weather systems.
So we'll get through the first week. The settling down is very nice, exciting and occasionally with a somewhat insecure feeling. But most of all we all enjoy all the new impressions we get.
Next week is especially exciting whether Marinthe will find her feet at tennis school and get through the 'evaluation week' well and whether we will get Eline enrolled at Boca Raton High School and what 'proof of recidency' is needed. We are going to experience it!