Crazy day. Still in Fort Lauderdale

So if you read my last post, you'll know that the shipping agent sparked three mad days of action on Ty Dewi by asking us to load onto a ship today instead of in two weeks time. Yesterday afternoon they sent us an email confirming loading would begin around 9am.

We stripped the boat of all sails, canvas, lines etc. Hoisted the dinghy and outboard, cleaned the fridge, threw out the last of the fresh food we couldn't eat.

Booked train tickets and hotel, stayed up till 1am packing. Set the alarm for early in the morning. Got up, fed the kids and us, did some last minute things and called the shipping agent.

When do you want us?

Er, we're very sorry, but we won't be loading today. The ship's Captain has decided he will not take yachts as deck cargo and is not stopping at this port. We will put you on a ship on April 15th, that's all we can do.

Stunned silence. I am almost at a loss for words. As the day goes on they offer to cover our marina and cancellation expenses and to come to the boat to meet and discuss the issues. OK, problems happen, it's how the company deals with it that's going to matter.

As of this evening, they're not doing too well, as I've not heard anything further, but we await developments tomorrow.

Thankfully our biggest expense, $800 of train tickets, was refunded in full by Amtrak, but our hotel room fee is gone. The marina has been great, moved us round to a more suitable berth and even matched the price of a cheaper nearby marina. The shipping agent should be paying that but right now I have nothing for certain so we shall see.

The new loading date, April 15th, is at the end of the Easter vacation and the trains are booked solid for five days after. Planes are available but prices are very high, so we'll need to think carefully about our travel after that, but right now I need to gain confidence in that shipping date before anything else.

Tiredness from the preparations has caught up with us and we both have colds now, the kids are OK but picking up on all the stress and adding to it as only kids can. We're working out how to make the best of a surprise extra week in Fort Lauderdale but need a good night's sleep before we can really get on with that.

Ah, the things this life throws at us. Sigh.