New Courses, New Challenges

“SUSAN LEE”  photographed by Dave Powell

About the only thing that hasn’t changed since my last post in February is the name of this blog “CAPERBOAT”…  I think I will stick with it for now, as Sue and I have had enough changes for awhile.  Most of the changes to our lives have been positive, and, as usual, with a few difficulties thrown in.

Last summer, we chartered a trawler in the North Channel with Wisconsin friends, Al and Cynthia Johnson.  I was on assignment to do a cruising piece for PassageMaker, which will be published soon.

There is always a hidden cost in  anything to do with boating and this one will come as no surprise to many of you. While sitting in the flybridge while at anchor on a sunny afternoon in the Benjamin Islands, Sue said “Don’t you miss the breeze and the view from up here?”  How could I say no at a moment like that?  Well, six months later our lovely Mainship  Express 34 “CAPER” was sold and soon thereafter the Mainship 390 Trawler “SUSAN LEE’ was occupying our slip at the Bird Key Yacht Club.  She was built in 2003 and was in very good shape, but needed fine tuning to satisfy my usual boat fetish for perfection.  So the first six weeks of ownership resulted in substantial sums of effort (by experts) and cash (by me).

We finally got away on a ten day cruise of southwest Florida from our home in Sarasota, down as far as Ft. Meyers and back.  The boat performed beautifully despite a harrowing arrival at Useppa Island when the port shift cable broke while backing into a slip with a heavy cross wind. Over a full day was required to locate and install a new 34 foot cable that threaded through the boat, both vertically and horizontally.

While returning on the trip, Sue developed a swollen right leg.  She visited her internist who ordered a ultrasound to check for a blood clot.  Negative.  Next she sent Sue for ct scan of her abdomen.  There, lurking in the shadows, was a large mass that a subsequent biopsy confirmed as a GIST malignant tumor.  This is a relatively rare form of cancer and would require surgical removal.  As it turned out, it had nothing to do with the leg (which was caused by a cyst), but was fortunately found in time  for a successful operation; a complete removal with clear margins and further treatment unlikely. During her second day of surgical recovery her heart rate accelerated to over 250.  She was transported by ambulance to another hospital for a heart catherization and ablatement procedure to block the condition.

She has been resting at home since, getting stronger every day.  We almost went back down to the boat today, but decided to wait a few more days.  We most likely will not leave the slip with our lovely new boat before we return  to Wisconsin, looking forward to both summer,the fall and resuming our cruising aboard “SUSAN LEE.”

This most recent  journey has confirmed our lifelong practice of enjoying life to the fullest while the weather is fair.

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