Lessons in “Life on the Water”

It’s been a year since we began cruising. It’s taken this long for us to make an important discovery. The most pleasant rhythm of living on the waterway exits for us if we stay put for a month, move along for a month, then stay put for a month. The “staying put” part allows relationships to come together... a community to develop. We enjoy the solitude that being on anchor in a remote location affords, but that time away from the busy-ness of life needs to be balanced by being back in the swing of things. If we dock just long enough to fuel up, pump out and take care of laundry and provisioning issues, we miss out on becoming part of the family of kindred spirits. Once word gets around that we are planning to linger for a while, invitations to join the dockside gatherings begin to be handed out. Inquiries about our tubby trawler begin to emerge from the folks sitting on the aft decks of their trawlers and the cockpits of their sailboats. “What is your boat anyway? She’s so homely she’s adorable!” Settling into the city-operated marinas seems to appeal to us the most. Located in the heart of their historical downtowns, the The City of Ft. Myers Yacht Basin and the Ft. Pierce City Marina are two of our favorites this year. They are on opposite ends of the Okeechobee Waterway. Ft. Myers, on Florida’s West Coast has both the Caloosahatchee River and the Gulf of Mexico to play around in, while Ft. Pierce fronts on the Indian River with the Atlantic beaches just across the Hutchinson Island’s several bridge connections. Last year we had an extended stay in St. Petersburg Municipal Marina and loved the experience. Sarasota has Marina Jacks as its centrally located docking and mooring spot. Again, we felt right at home. We get to know the bus/trolley routes, we hike and bike around the area and feel like its “our town” for a while. Being a local is nice!