Wednesday evening my writers group met at my house. It was very enjoyable, as always. Even though we have one member who can’t be quiet, interrupts everyone when they are talking, and considers herself a foremost authority on everything. Even if she knows very little about the subject. But I digress, we still all enjoyed it.

After the meeting was over, about 8:30, Dan suggested we go down to the boat. He’d put new stereo speakers in the cockpit while we were meeting. It was a lovely night to just sit outside. As I began to pack up a few things, I said, “Let’s just spend the night…..” We’d not done this before, because we had so much stuff in the boat like parts and tools and things that needed putting away. But we finally got some semblance of order in the cabin and had gotten the bed made up. He agreed, so I added coffee to my bag, a little cream, and some fruit and muffins for the morning, and off we went.

It was funny, really, how I woke up 3 hours after we went to bed and thought I hadn’t slept. Dan knew I had….but I believed I hadn’t. By morning, I still felt like I hadn’t slept but I wasn’t tired. Then I remembered how I sleep differently on the boat, in a more kind of hypnotic, dream-like state. Which is very restful. Just, in the 10 years I’ve had off from sleeping on a boat, I’d forgotten what it was like. The rocking lulls me into a sleep and keeps me aware at the same time. It’s so pleasant.

We spent a part of the afternoon yesterday, out floating in the middle of Boca Ciega Bay. It’s a small (relative to Tampa Bay) bay which is actually part of the inland waterway up Florida’s west coast. We had been running the boat to try to figure out a problem we’re having. At one point we just shut it down as it began to overheat during one of our attempts.

I couldn’t help myself. I put on my bathing suit and we sat on the swim platform for most of that time, feet in the water, talking. It made me think of endless afternoons when my son was young, doing exactly that same thing, although those times were interspersed with us jumping in and out too. It was good memories.

I know Dan enjoyed it too, but his level of enjoyment is more tempered, since he really just wants to resolve the problem we’re having, and he has to contend with getting the boat back into the slip which is still a trying experience, since we’ve only done it a couple of times. He gets better each time, learning how the wind will affect the boat as he tries to get it between the pilings.

As we got to the inlet to the marina, a dolphin surfaced beside the boat, heading out to sea. Such beautiful creatures. So far, I’ve not been out and not seen at least one. An added delight to being out on the water, which is wonderful in and of itself.

We got the boat tied up and while the engine flushed we played cards and had a drink, below decks in the air conditioning. While 90° is not so bad when you’re out on the water, because you can feel the breeze, it’s hot in a land-locked marina, where the breeze is minimal.

We went home, I made a big pot of hot and sour soup, and some biscuits. After eating dinner, we decided we were too tired to go to Open Mic. We sat on the couch to watch TV and promptly both of us fell asleep. In bed by 10, I slept until 7:30 this morning. 9 ½ hours!!!! Holy Cow!

So…the boat’s not completely right yet, but many things are resolved and fixed, we just have a couple of things left. Even though there’s still work to be done, we’re still enjoying it. Which is the thing that’s important, right? For me, I can’t even express how awesome it is to share this with Dan. It’s just so easy. Here’s to more easy times……

Love and light to all.