Family reunion

Fort Lauderdale 014
Originally uploaded by brisegalets

What a week-end !
On Friday, my brothers (Brothers of the Coast) from the Chesapeake Bay flew in from Norfolk and I went to the airport to meet them. They had rented a van there for the President's Day Week-End and after an emotional welcome, they drove me back to Papy Jovial where we could take some pictures to link to the pictures taken in Portsmouth on May 16, 2009 when I left from there for Sydney, Australia. After that, we had lunch together at Briney's and then they drove to Miami where they were staying.
I took a shuttle the next morning to join them and spend the day at the Miami Boat Show. First, we sent to Miami Beach for breakfast and Stew and Diana joined us there before we went to the Convention Center for the show.
From that 34,000 nautical miles and two years voyage, there were a few ideas I had been thinking of towards improving further a boat that I love dearly and the boat show was the right place to start to implement those ideas.
After spending the whole day there, they drove me back to Fort Lauderdale where I spent the night on Papy Jovial.
Next morning, which was Sunday, Scott and Preston drove up to Fort Lauderdale to pick me up and we drove back to Fort Lauderdale and then to Miami Beach for another great breakfast, before driving to Marathon but not without another pit stop, this time at the "Alabama Jack" for a nice lunch in a "bikers" ambiance. In Marathon, the local brothers there were waiting for us for another great impromptu boucan. There I met not only the brothers of Marathon present in town, but also some of the brothers from the Solomons Island table.
Monday started with breakfast at IHOP, then I was driven home by Gary who was staying on my boat Monday night. Of course, this was not without another get together on the way at Harbor Whate in Islamorada.
We got back to Fort Lauderdale, just in time for another super evening at the house of John Dotto, where the Gold Coast table had organized a boucan, This time, we met the local brothers from Miami and Fort Lauderdale, including David, just back from the Bahamas and who had sailed on Papy Jovial from Jamaica to Manta in Ecuador.
This was the conclusion of a great brotherhood week-end, making me feel that at last, I was back home, even if I won't be back in Norfolk before May 1st.