Beautiful Boca Grande

February 10, 2022

We celebrated my birthday yesterday and had planned to be in Boca Grande for that but the weather had turned nasty and cold and so it was not meant to be. The beauty that boating brings in just letting go and going with the flow is priceless to me. It’s such a beautiful directive to let play in our day to day lives. I love that we have the ability just change plans on a whim and that being tied the dock is never forever. I love that no two days routines are ever the same and that every sunset is like we are seeing it for the very first time

We left Westshore at midday on a beautiful crisp cleat day with the wind behind us and as always, dolphins on our bow.

There is no finer place to be for me and I always feel a tingle in my soul whenever we go. I always give Shaun and big hug and a kiss and thank him for being my captain (in so many ways) and I thank this old lady of the sea for carrying us to our destination safely tucked within her belly. I always used to wonder why they referred to a boat as a “she” and now I understand why intimately.

I made lunch as we made the trip to Sarasota which would be our stopover for tonight. We stay at the Marina there but on a mooring ball, not on the dock. We arrived just after 5, took the doggies to potty and ordered a curry for dinner with Uber eats

We left at 8 for Boca and made our way down the intercostal anchoring in our favorite spot at around 2.30

We settled in by immediately going to the beach. It was going to be lovely for the next two days before some rain and wind would keep us mainly on board.

So on Saturday we made the 55 min trip by dinghy to visit Matlacha, a cute color filed island village filed with artsy/crafty people and stores. We had lunch at a simple restaurant over the water and headed back home for the beach for the afternoon. We also got news then of my mom being admitted to hospital which left us so very worried, especially being away and not being able to go anywhere in a hurry to be there. We had to start making plans incase we needed to leave urgently as well as watching the weather in order to do so.

Sunday was rainy off and on and we had a day catching up on things that needed our attention on the boat. We watched the Super Bowl in the evening and woke to a very windy and cold morning. It is the start of a nice warmup for the week so we made do with what we could by taking the doggies to play on the beach a few times to run and play

My mom had 2 bad days in hospital and this was weighing heavily on our hearts now. Tuesday we started making plans to cross the bay which can be treacherous in the wrong winds for us. At the beach that afternoon we met a lovely guy named Craig from the trawler anchored next to us called Dreamweaver. We chatted a bit and he and his lovely wife Peg invited us over for cocktail hour. I think we could have overstayed our welcome had I not had to get back to Happy Wife for an update call on my mom. We could’ve chatted for hours more swopping boat and family stories

We saw that there would be a gap on Wednesday morning and left at 9am for Sarasota where we thought we would get a mooring ball for the night. Because we made good time though, we carried on and anchored in Anna Maria just before sunset.

This is only about 4 hours to home but Thursday would bring heavy onshore winds and we decided it was best to wait it out here rather than in Sarasota. Fortunately, my mom was discharged today and so we would be reunited as soon as we could get home on Friday.

We took the dinghy to lunch up the river at RiverHouse Waterfront and then went to the beach in the afternoon with Cali to play. We prepared to leave early in the morning only to wake to fog so dense we couldn’t see the boat anchored near us. We waited it out until about 10 am and made the 3 hour trip back to home. Although it’s always special to get out on the water, this time was tough with my moms health issues so I never felt relaxed at any time.

Even though I know that worry serves no purpose other than to rob us of today’s joy, she was never far from my mind. I pray for your peace of mind though if you are reading this. Love those around you, take nothing for granted and enjoy today because it’s all we truly have.