A Relaxing Birthday Long Weekend

We were feeling a little stuck to the dock again, but such is life when you live out on the water. Time constraints, busy busy schedules and routine all seem to weigh you down, until it wears thin and you have to move again.

There its no happier place for us than when we are alone out on the ocean. There is a certain and wonderful freedom that comes from just letting the ropes go!

And so it was that, with a nice gap in the weather and Shaun’s upcoming birthday as well as his late dads, that we decided to take a quick close-to-home trip

Friday is Shaun’s dads first birthday in heaven, followed by his the next day. We were out on the ocean in the Ten Thousand Islands when he passed away and seemed only fitting that we be in the same place for tomorrow

We left Westshore midday on this bright blue and sunny Wednesday with our 7 year old grandson Jax, who we picked up early from school to sail with us to first stop in St Pete.

We anchored at around 2 and did some homework, crafts and dinghy rides etc. We had a quick dinner before Justine, our daughter, picked us all up and dropped us off at our regular clay class in St Pete on their way home. Our friend dropped us back and we settled in for the night.

In the morning we took the dinghy to the shore to have breakfast at Cassis and left our anchorage for Fantasy Island right after that.

The puppies love it here as they can swim and play in the ocean and that makes us so happy. We are so blessed to have this tiny island right on our doorstep.

We anchored and spent lazy day at the beach, grilled for lunch and took as sunset bath on the helm with a magnificent sunset. We had dinner and shared a bottle of wine on our first night

We woke early on Friday, headed to the beach for the morning and took the dinghy up to Rivers Edge for lunch. This little waterside biker bar has become a favorite for us. Even though most of their food is fried, their french fries are the best we’ve ever had. Wash that down with a beer or a Chardonnay and its just perfect in the sun. While working on my laptop alone (Shaun was out on the dinghy) We did some some work in the afternoon, cooked supper together and ate up on the helm.

We had a relaxed beach day for Shaun’s birthday and, as expected, when the rain hit at around two, we were safely tucked inside with the hatches buttoned. I made little cup cakes and tea for him. Later, for dinner we had a cheese and wine with our favorite wine from Montepulciano

Although a clear bright blue sunny greeted us on Sunday morning, it was so cold but it was time for us to head home. As always, we feel so at peace when we are all alone, out on our little floating island #Blessed