Secrets of the Ten Thousand Islands

5/1/25

After our generator debacle, we felt like we had a new lease on life to leave Marco Island

Rose Marina is always outstanding with the best staff and they are so very helpful in every way.

We love stopping here for this very reason.

We filled up with fuel and water, gave the boat a quick hose down and merrily set on our way with dolphins in tow as always

We anchored just after lunch, which I made underway, and went straight to the beach for Cali. This is our (and her) absolute favorite anchorage. We brought her straight here as a puppy when covid hit and had a full 3 months with her to ourselves completely. She spends all day trying to catch fish in the shallows, we go paddle boarding with her and we just love our long beach walks for miles without a soul in sight for days.

Time stands still for us here and at first its very difficult to decompress as we are so used to being extremely busy on land where space is just filled to the brim at all times

It takes a few days to just breathe and take it all in and relax. Our days somehow blend into each other with slow mornings, yoga and workouts followed by breakfast and taking Cali to the beach mid morning. We come back to Happy Wife for lunch or pack a lunch some days, and visit other islands. Everglades City is just a 20 minute dinghy ride away for supplies and we usually eat a lunch at one of the different restaurants in the little town when we go in.

The first week into town we chose City Seafood for a fresh caught rustic meal and we picked up a part that we had shipped to the local post office for our water osmosis system

We celebrated Cinco de Mayo aboard with margaritas, tacos and decorations. I love planning and setting the table for our “theme” lunches or dinners. We had an Easter table too complete with bunnies and Easter eggs

I use most of what I have decorating the boat on the table and then add a few touches that I buy in advance before leaving the shore

We made two trips into Everglades City to get supplies and have our weekly lunch at The Rod and Gun Club, our favorite old time Florida hotel. We even know the waitresses by name. The second, and last week we went to lunch, we sadly found out that our amazing waitress Barbara had passed away suddenly at age 40. We are so sad as she was an absolute pleasure and a gem for the establishment

We spent our days visiting different islands; walking, talking and just enjoying the solitude we so love together. I think I wrote in one of my Instagram posts about my four sanctuaries…Solitude, Stillness, Silence and Simplicity and THAT is the secret that we carry with us

We had sunset baths, faaaar too many cocktails, and just absolutely loved our time out on the water. Breakfast on the beach or just coffee too. Shaun fished, we met new friends along the way and feel thoroughly blessed to live the life we do. I try to find beauty in the simple little things and that gratitude is what feeds my soul.

Almost a month since arrival we made our way back up through Marco Island to spend the night at Ft Meyers beach on a mooring ball. We went to dinner overlooking our Happy Wife and it felt like the perfect ending to our time away.

Today, the 26th of May, we make our way through the first lock on our way for Happy Wife to make her way for haul out ahead of hurricane season 2025.

Last year was absolutely brutal as we went through two back to back major storms, both flooding half of our beach rental properties but our boat was perfectly fine in the middle of the state on the hard

We pray for a calm season this year, but the peace of mind we have that she is safely at “The Spa” is priceless and Shaun and I will travel to Mexico while we wait out the season.

We thank you for following along with us…it is a different life and not for everyone we realize, but we feel blessed beyond measure for this journey