A little Magic before the real magic begins...

Timing for Moonshadow's sea trials and surveys allowed us to take some time out from our travels to camp out and visit with Niece Patricia and her husband Dave Duff, their beautiful kids and awesome black labs, in Orlando, Florida. Sensing an immediate need to stand in long lines and hang out with the spring break crowd, we hurried over to Walt Disney World and had some fun.

But the real story was about George who's selling his boat to John at the Ft. George Marina on the St. John River.

So next it was off to finally meet George Backhus, who sailed Moonshadow around the world, and his fiancee Merima, who sailed with George for the last half of his adventures.  We're feeling pretty fortunate to find not just a really great boat, but one that comes with knowledgable owners who've got years (17+) with the boat, and a willingness to share their experiences with us.

On the way to the boat, cop cars and motorcycles with lights and sirens had us convinced we were receiving a welcoming police escort, somehow arranged by Ryan from 3000 miles away!  But when we were forced off the road so a motorcade of about 250 Harley Davidsons could motor by for 5 minutes, we figured it isn't all about us...

Deb and I had to laugh as our plan to try to appear blase while inspecting the boat evaporated the moment we stepped aboard Moonshadow.  Instead, we spent the day, Deb with Merima; and John with George, learning about the boat, and what great people we're adopting her from.