There is something magical about living on the ocean. Especially when you are greeted with daily visits from dolphins, manatees, various birds and fish. The fish attract the dolphins who feed right under the boat and toss the fish playfully into the air. Who needs Sea World? Occasionally while underway, dolphins will swim in the wake of our boat. It has been said, that this is a sign of good luck! We love living on this boat even if there are occasional challenges.
We are often asked, “Where are you from or where do you live?” When we were international, it was, “what country” and now back in the US it is “what state”? We often struggle with a definite answer because our lives have been a bit of a nomadic lifestyle. The first thing we say, “we currently live on our boat, Chapter Two and it is our home” but we have an apartment in Seattle where our son is in college. But, we grew up in Oklahoma, lived in Texas, Japan, and Seattle. We’ve experienced a wide range of diverse cultures in our travels, mostly good and occasionally a few bad but the good outweighs the bad.

Recently, we had our good friends, Katie and Bill Morris, join us on a four day weekend as we sailed CH2 up and down the coast. Pat and I met them in Venice, Florida and proceeded to sail up to St. Petersburg, Florida. We had been talking about exploring these cities and its fun to explore new areas when you’ve got friends to help with the navigation. Especially when we have lively conversations while enjoying our sundowners and watching the sunset.

After dropping Katie and Bill back in Venice, Pat and I sailed the boat to Sarasota, Florida where we stayed at Marina Jacks. It is in downtown Sarasota with easy access to parks, museums and restaurants. The air temperature has begun cooling off at night and we are able to sleep with the hatches open. Pat and I managed to log up to 5-7 miles daily in training while walking around the area. When it was time to point CH2 back toward Burnt Store Marina, we decided to cruise down the scenic Intercoastal Waterways. It was quite interesting with the eight bridges that had to be opened for us, but definitely worth the time and effort. Its best experienced when you’ve got the time and the winds aren’t in your favor. There were numerous visits from dolphins swimming in our wake. Once we arrived back to Burnt Store, we tried to move to a quieter spot in the north basin that had fewer birds. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to stay long before the rutter was hitting bottom at low tide. Next week, the tide tables showed a negative tide which would ruin our rutters. Major bummer, because it was a beautiful spot with large palm trees and friendly walkers stopping to chat.

Once we were back in our old spot, we spent the last few days, we’ve been preparing the boat for storage during the holidays. It’s time to begin our whirlwind holiday trips for the next two months. I miss my boys terribly but know they have their own lives to lead but frankly, so do we now that Pat is retired. We’ll return in January and begin coasting toward the Bahamas and away from the daily political rhetoric of white noise that has become the norm in America. So glad the elections are finished but the firestorms have just started. I’m hoping I have the patience to withstand all the white noise and ugliest currently in America. If all Americans could live in undeveloped countries for a few weeks, they would realize the unlimited privileges that are taken for granted in the USA.

Now, it’s off to Las Vegas for the Rock N Roll 5k and ½ marathons! I hope we’re ready!