Happy New Year! We wrapped up the decade by spending the past couple weeks with family and friends in Dallas, Houston, Crowley, LA and Clermont, FL. It was a whirlwind of visits to their beautiful and warm Christmas-adorned homes, our favorite restaurants, pampering appointments that helped transform us from salty sailors to our recognizable selves, and provisioning trips at every type of store from Target and Whole Foods to West Marine and Elliott’s Hardware. All those business trips paid off in miles for the ideal, direct flights that allowed us to be close to loved ones and bring the maximum amount of gear back with us (both in number of boxes and weight!).
Returning to the boat and getting back into cruising mode punctuated just how different the pace of life is out here versus on land. While cruising, we typically do one or two things a day that take all day. Transiting from one place to another may take all day, if not longer. Sometimes we add in grocery shopping or laundry if we’re docked, but not often both in the same day. And exploring a new place will certainly take a full day on its own. While on land, we seem to do over forty things a day, everyday. Staying up as late as it takes to get it all in.
After just two months of cruising, we were surprised by how much we were affected by this intense pace that in our former land life, we could have run circles around.
Yesterday is when it all caught up with us. After getting several months worth of provisions organized and stowed away, we drafted an aggressive transit plan from our Christmas dockage to the Florida Keys with the goal of catching up with our cruising friends and making the crossing to the Bahamas by week’s end. While we felt a little worn out, we were motivated to get going so we set out for the Gulf.
After a late start waiting on bridges (Florida has strict bridge opening schedules) and two groundings, our ambition was trumped by exhaustion. While it was absolutely worth traveling back to the “real world” for Christmas, the pace had gotten the best of us so we made the prudent decision to anchor nearby in Sarasota and get some rest. We’ve dusted ourselves off and are now en route south to Fort Myers.
As we’ve learned over the past couple months, plans are always subject to change so we’ll continue on our course to the Bahamas as weather and our cruising pace permit.
N 27° 07.16 / W 82° 28.06
When you get to Key West, stop by Turtle Kraals and ask for Jolea. Then give my daughter a big hug. We haven’t seen her in person in a year.
Great to hear from you! If we stop in Key West, we will certainly try to find Jolea and give her a big hug from you. Of course we’ll take a photo so you can see that she’s doing great. Wishing you peace, blessings and togetherness in the new year.
Thanks. Fair winds and following seas!