Quick Update

After a nice reunion at Vero Beach with our friends Tom and Lynette on Por Fin, we turned in early in preparation of the trip to St. Augustine Tuesday morning. We were warned, yet still unprepared for the what was to come that night. Vero Beach is a wonderful place with one exception. NO-SEEUMS! Other cruisers carry separate, very fine screens specifically to protect from no-seeums at Vero Beach. Last fall, I got about a dozen bites, but we remember now tha we had all the hatches closed due to cold weather. Monday night, it was hot and humid. I had been alternating skin-so-soft and "Off" all day in order to avoid any chance at bites. We had happy hour on Tessa with Por Fin and some new cruisers who have a Gulfstar 44, and as soon as the sun began to set, I locked myself down below. However, we did have hatches open with our normal screens up for air circulation. The biting rat-bastards woke us both in the middle of the night. "GO SPRAY YOURSELF DOWN AND CLIMB BACK UNDER THE SHEETS FAST!" Gary urged. I quickly closed the hatches and doused myself with Cutter 50% Deet. The light in our stateroom revealed hundreds of them covering the headliner. My worst nightmare! I pulled the sheet up over my head and prayed maybe they weren't the no-seeums that I am so allergic to. Maybe they are some other kind of insect. Maybe...... The next morning, the bumps were already forming into blisters. By afternoon, I was covered with countless bites literally from head (scalp) to toe.I dreaded what was in store for me for the next four days. I know the cycle all to well. It takes a half a day before all the the blisters appear. The next forty eight hours are pure hell. They itch horribly and burn and hurt all at the same time, and are especially aggravated by heat or sun. As my body reacts to fight the poisons, I experience alternating chills and feverish symptoms and nausea. I am absolutely miserable. Poor Gary feels my pain yet knows there is nothing he can do to help. I've tried everything that every pharmacist recommends with no relief. I've done research on internet sites, where the best advise is simply to avoid areas where they are. No magic remedies. The first no-seeum attack a few years ago, I sought medical care and was prescribed steroids. We tossed the pills aside after we read the side affects and decided I was better off just suffering through the discomfort. Yesterday afternoon, Gary suggested that fishing might keep my mind off the discomfort. "Big Chuck" had the Hoo Lili lure, the rod Cuzzin Debbie and Mike donated to Tessa had a balleyhoo lure. No hits before dark, but as I reeled in Mike's rod, a big fish hit the balleyhoo, broke the water, did a back flip, and bit off the lower half of the lure.....right below the hook! Gary was right! I didn't itch for the entire sixty seconds it took to miss this fish! Now, we are at a dock in St. Augustine, hatches closed tight and air conditioning running to sooth the burning and itching. The dockmaster confirmed that they do have no-seeums here....but only of the wind stops blowing. I may just have to be content experiencing St. Augustine by reading my Waterway Guide from our bunk. Life is still good, this is just a bump (pardon the pun) in the road.