I'm not going to try and make excuses or rationalize why I've not posted in over 6 months but I'll just say that it's been one busy year. It all started on November 1, 2011 when I drove into the parking lot of my employers corporate offices and immediately noticed all sorts of people sitting in their car, standing outside frantically talking on their cell phones or sucking down large drags of their cigarettes. Oh oh. "Something's up", I immediately said to myself. Sure enough as I walked into the building I ran into the number 3 guy at the bank and he informed me that we were being bought by another much larger bank. Awesome! Basically we went from the being stuck on the Titanic to being be rescued by the QE2. Later this year the bank was finally absorbed and I landed safely in my new position ready to put this Great Recession behind me and start working productively again. Honestly I have the love of my wife and kids to thank for keeping me sane during these past several years.
While waiting for the sale to close I started doing some long overdue work on the Rhum Brave. In summary I replaced all my lighting (most of which was shot) with new LED lights that burn brighter and use less energy. Not to mention fully sealed and much more corrosion resistant. I next worked on a new stereo system, canvas t-top and managed to fill every ding, dent and crack. As of today I still have a speedometer and faulty trim tab switch to replace. I'll finish up the last of the improvements and move the boat down to her new home. Wait. What new home? Ah… now comes the bigger news.
We bought a place in Key Largo. It's a three story townhouse in a larger complex called Kawama Yacht Club. It's located at mile marker 101 on the Oceanside. Oceanside is the local lingo for being on the Southside of the island with immediate access to the Atlantic Ocean (versus being on the Bayside with access to Florida Bay). This has been a dream of ours ever since Mags was a teenage hanging out in the Keys with her high school buddies and when I first came to the Keys in the summer of 1990. Throughout the 2000's we spent many vacations and numerous daytrips downs to the Keys and inevitably we looked at the properties for sale. Of course from 2000 to 2007 the prices reached astronomical levels which were well beyond our means. Finally the bottom fell out of the market after 2007 and we watched as prices sailed south. Well last year as we vacationed at Buttonwood Bay the desire to finally find something affordable hit a boiling point. As I remember it we were on the balcony watching the last of the sun disappear over the horizon and it was either the rum or sun but Mags says "I don't know where, I don't how and I don't know when but we're getting a place in the Keys." I not sure how I first responded but here we are today. We closed in June and today we have a fully furnished 3 bed/3 bath townhouse ready to fish! Of course I have several folks to thank (you know who you are Dad and Papi). Pictures will be posted shortly.
There was one more great thing this year. For the first time since I was 11 years old the entire Moore clan including wives, husbands and grandkids took a vacation together. Not Mexico this time. Mom and Dad took the whole family for a 10-day cruise to Alaska. That trip obviously deserves a whole string of posts and pictures. Simply amazing is the best way to describe Alaska. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
