December 19, 2015
What we love about Christmas are traditions. Every year the Friday after Thanksgiving, Francie and I would make dozens of trips upstairs to bring boxes filled with Christmas decoration down to the living room. I would leave the house, and Francie would play her Christmas music and decorate the house. When I returned, the transformation was amazing. We still keep that tradition alive, but instead of boxes, we have a small bag of Christmas decorations. Francie spends about an hour decorating the section of mast in our living area. It is not a tree, but it still represents Christmas. Adapted for the boat, it is the tradition that makes Christmas alive for us.
After several months of travel, we have finally arrived in St. Petersburg, our winter destination with all of our Christmas decorations still intact. Since this is our second year in the marina, we are looking forward to reconnecting with friends.
Like our Christmas traditions, we find our lives adjusting to other changes. For a while, we have been feeling a change coming in our future. As many of you know, we had an opportunity to deliver a motorhome from Washington DC to Sarasota, Florida. It took us 6 weeks, and we really enjoyed it. Anam Cara has been our home for 5 ½ years, and we have traveled a little over 20,000 miles. Our travels have enriched our lives in ways we never imagined when we started, but we feel it is time to leave the sea and become land travelers.
After several months of travel, we have finally arrived in St. Petersburg, our winter destination with all of our Christmas decorations still intact. Since this is our second year in the marina, we are looking forward to reconnecting with friends.
Like our Christmas traditions, we find our lives adjusting to other changes. For a while, we have been feeling a change coming in our future. As many of you know, we had an opportunity to deliver a motorhome from Washington DC to Sarasota, Florida. It took us 6 weeks, and we really enjoyed it. Anam Cara has been our home for 5 ½ years, and we have traveled a little over 20,000 miles. Our travels have enriched our lives in ways we never imagined when we started, but we feel it is time to leave the sea and become land travelers.
On this passage to St. Petersburg, we talked about the things we take for granted living on the water. Few things can compare to dolphins swimming in our bow wake or crisscrossing under the boat, settling into a remote anchorage and watching the sun rise or set, and actually being able to turn off the motor and sail to a destination at a respectable 7 knots!
Sunset while traveling south on the Atlantic
As we look forward to another Christmas on the water, we are grateful for friendships and family. Although, while visiting our family for Thanksgiving, we met face to face with the enemy we have desperately tried to avoid – SNOW! We awoke to find Anam CAR-a covered in the dreadful stuff!
May your Christmas be Merry and we wish you the best in the coming year. Oh, by the way if you know anyone looking for a 45 foot sailboat, send them our way.