The Trip Within A Trip

So we abandoned our boat in South Carolina, but not because of Hurricane Sandy.  We are leaving on a trip to the Galapagos Islands and Machu Picchu.  Motu Iti is spending this time with our friends in South Carolina at a very secure dock with people who totally know what they are doing.  She is being well cared for; you can’t ask for better friends.  Here she is, all cozy and happy at their dock.

They have a beautiful place right off the ICW – here’s the sunset from their dock.

Their many cruising friends stop on their way south and there were two other boats visiting when we left – lots of socializing and potluck dinners, but also the doing of laundry, the shopping for Christmas gifts, the exercising at the “Y,” the securing of boat parts, the working on boat projects, the disposing of garbage at the county dump, and the cleaning and packing and leaving.  What a wonderful place to do all that in.

(No suitcases on the boat – just duffel bags.)

We flew back to Annapolis just in time for the panic party over Hurricane Sandy – the Frankenstorm.  We were able to visit with our daughter, son-in-law and granddog; and even our nephew and his wife who were in DC on business.  (And we filled out our absentee ballots, of course.)

We also helped with hurricane preparations.  Their boat, Velocir, and our other boat are securely attached to our dock, which is very protected.  Except for a few very tall trees.

It is already blowing here.  We moved our flights up a day and hopefully will be able to leave on Sunday for Ecuador.  We are traveling with friends we met on our first trip to the Bahamas, in 1995-95.  We fly into Quito, Ecuador, travel to the Galapagos aboard a small cruise ship, and then on to Peru and Machu Picchu.

So begins our brief hiatus from our journey southward aboard Motu Iti.  We will return just before Thanksgiving to Annapolis, have Thanksgiving  with our daughter and son-in-law, and then travel back to SC and Motu Iti to continue our journey south.

Stay safe.