Guest Blogger Today
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While our guests were aboard last week, I asked them to write a guest post. Glenn took me up on my offer and is writing today. Please enjoy his post!
Joy
In the original Muppet Movie Kermit the Frog sings a lyric that defies all logic but is almost magically reinforced in our daily lives – “there’s not a word yet for old friends that just met.” So it was over 20 years ago when 4 families’ lives came together in a perfect storm of a sort in the halls of Lawrenceville First UMC – old friends had just met and somehow we knew there was a unique bond among us. Sure, there was the all having young children connection, but it quickly ran deeper –we all love boats and being on the water and we found every opportunity to do it together! We all owned some type of floating craft – sailboats, ski boats and rowboats– and most were seaworthy! We began sharing time on the water as well as on land. We’ve vacationed together, bicycled some questionable back-roads of Mexico together, and even added to the flotilla together. Now that most of the children are grown we’re appreciating time together as just the adults – though constantly interrupted by the delightful tinkle of text messages from our independent offspring.
This past week three of the four couples shared an excursion together on Meandering Joy. We converged on St. Pete on Sunday afternoon. Joy and Steve made the drive down and headed straight for the boat. Nancy and I drove down a different route and stopped at the St Pete airport to give Charlene and Dave a lift to the boat. After a trip to the Publix for some significant provisioning we settled in for a good rest with visions of blue seas filling our dreams. Our course called for going to Venice, Boca Grande, Captiva Island, Cabbage Key and back to St. Pete. Our reality on Monday as we headed out was, well, wind and rolling waters. We enjoyed the great stability of Meandering Joy and stayed in the ICW rather than running in the Gulf. We arrived in Venice knowing that there were storms headed our way. We and several other boats claimed a space in the Crow’s Nest Marina and tied up well for winds and rain. Our planned one night in Venice became two as we waited out the storms. But don’t worry, we had a great time! We explored Venice together, walked in the rain, ate more than well and even met another Fleming owner who gave us tour of his boat and a ride back to our marina on a rainy afternoon. Be assured that we had a blast! That’s just the wonder of all-weather-friends when they are together – it’s the time shared rather than the circumstance that make it all fun.
The decision came on Wednesday to push on to Captiva and skip Boca Grande. We stayed in the ICW and the weather was improving by the minute! We tied up at South Seas Marina under beautiful blue skies and a light breeze. We secured rental bikes to assure great touring of the island. So enjoyable was the marina, the resort and especially the beach that we changed the itinerary to spend three nights at Captiva. Relaxation, great conversation, outstanding onboard meals, time on the beach and even an intense game of “Catch Phrase” all combined in proper portion for a time in the memories book as more than outstanding!
I had been looking for an opportunity to fly my quad-copter/drone and make a few pics of the boats and South Seas provided that chance. Right next to the marina was a large grassy lawn that was the perfect spot for take-off and landing. The little drone has a great camera and will run up several hundred feet for some great views. I’d never flown over water and was a bit nervous since it does not provide a second chance at a landing. But I wanted the pix of Meandering Joy so it was a new challenge that I had to face. It’s battery powered and we get 15-20 minutes of flight on a battery. We’ve learned that when you fly in a public area you not only need time to fly but you have to allow plenty of time to show off the pics and talk to “inquiring minds” that want to know all about the Phantom. Thankfully the guy who kept shouting he was going to get his shotgun and take target practice really didn’t start shooting – he was joking, I think. Anyway, I got in two great flights and made some awesome pics around the marina. Then I took her up high enough to make a few pics that included the marina and the beach. I’ve got pics to send to several boat owners who were interested.
We pulled away from the dock at South Seas at 7AM on Saturday with an all day run in the gulf ahead to reach St. Pete before dark. As the daylight grew it revealed a gentle breeze on peaceful, green water. I’ve been boating on the Gulf for about 50 years and I can’t remember a time with this level of perfection for cruising. We ran all day and docked back at Isla Del Sol at about 5:30. It had been a perfect trip!
