Self Maintenance

We were bound for warm weather and vibrant Caribbean culture. Two days out at sea and we heard of a tropical storm brewing near Jamaica. This tropical storm quickly turned into a strong hurricane, moving up towards were we would be sailing. Captain made the decision to be safe and sail back to Florida.

We arrived in Jacksonville, Florida on Monday, the twenty-first and have been here since. It was shocking coming into a big city like Jacksonville. Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves. The city is getting ready for the big Florida-Georgia football game. We are docked right next two a large hotel, which holds many rowdy fans. Dock watches are pretty interesting with all the pre-game extravaganzas and enthusiastic fans wandering around.

Today we got the chance to have a "self-maintenance day," this meant we went to the local YMCA to enjoy working out, swimming, and most importantly, showering! Once we were all clean, we trooped back to the boat to gather dirty laundry! After a long day, we were fortunate enough to catch a trolley back to the boat.

Once we were all back and settled down, we celebrated the birthday of our fabulous cook, Lizzie. As we savored our delicious red-velvet cake, we listened and watched the pre-game festivities onshore and listened to the music being broadcast from the hotel.

We are staying in Jacksonville until Hurricane Sandy has passed over us, then we are finally bound for the beautiful islands of Hispaniola and Puerto Rico to catch some Caribbean rays!

-Abby