Maybe we gonna re-name our boat.....

....to "Target" or "Bulls-eye" or somethin' like that.  Seems like all the storms find us no matter where we hide!  Our first tropical storm of this hurricane season came this past week just a few miles west of St Pete & treated us to 50 mph winds, about 9" of rain, and storm surges of 2' above high tide.  The water was over the docks & we kept adjusting our lines all day.  The good part was that the storm passed over in just a couple hours, and a few hours after that, the winds/rain started ending.  Not like our CAT 1 hurricane in New Orleans last fall, where we dealt with the darn thing for 6-7 days straight.

So now our boat has seen one good tropical storm, 2 hurricanes, 2 tornadoes less than 1/4 mile away, and one marina fire at the end of the dock.  And we've only owned the boat for 5 years!  Is the best yet to come?

We're planning to go cruising this Monday for the next 10 days, ending on Florida's east coast near Cape Canaveral.  We'll take 5 days going slowly down to Ft Myers, spending 2 nites anchored off Cayo Costa Island.  According to the Loopers, that is supposed to be the best anchorage & prettiest island in the entire US.  We've waited for a weather window, so it should be quite nice for this trip.  We'll go swimming several times, and put the dinghy in the water to motor up to shore.  Maybe we'll dinghy over to Cabbage Key & get a "hamburger in paradise" (this is where Buffet wrote his song).  We'll watch every blazing sunset from our sundeck, while listening to Jimmy Buffet songs, and drinking our wine or margaritas.  This is what cruising is all about!

I remember when I was working on my J-O-B, a couple years from retirement, and my young  boss was giving me a "performance review".  He had just been promoted to manager & was trying desperately to act the part.  He asked, "Where do you want to be 5 years from now?"  I answered, "Sitting on my boat, drinking a glass of wine, watching every damn sunset!"  He laughed & said, "No, really, where do you want to be in 5 years?"  I looked him dead in the eyes & said, "Brad, you're not listening.  I want to be sitting on my boat, drinking a glass of wine, watching every damn sunset!"

This week, I'm a-gonna do it!!