going down the icw we cell phoned the kids every day - the admiral just does that. when we crossed key biscayne to gun cay there was, of course, no cell phone. we had a bit of trouble at gun cay (a story for another day) and stayed there for two days, out of communication of course. i didn't have my vhf on either - after this experience i've had it on 24/7.

two days later we decide to check in at nearby cat cay. as we motor up to the gas dock the dockmaster takes one look at our stern and says 'one step, you better call the coast guard, they're looking for you'.

daughter number one hadn't heard from us in 24 hours, panicked, and called the coast guard. the cg, to their credit, sent a plane over gun cay and spotted us. they also tried to radio us (radio off). they called her and told her that they had seen us anchored at gun cay.

daughter number one wouldn't speak to us for weeks.....