Yay!! We made it...

After eight days, seven nights, six anchorages, one marina stay, one water logged phone, one expertly engineered puppy potty launched overboard... after one lost anchor, two lost lines, two tired pups, numerous bug bites, and countless number of bridges... after two awesome days sailing and one beautiful sunrise and sunset after another, we made it... we made it to Stuart, Florida and we learned A LOT!!!

Sunset Marina & Anchorage

By the time we arrived in Stuart, we were exhausted. Our trip around Florida was rough. The first couple of days, we experienced stronger than anticipated winds right on off our bow which resulted in confused seas and... no sailing. Check out this a video I took from our salon as we traveled South along the Gulf Coast from Sarasota.

Crazy, I know! (Pardon my, "whoa" at the end of the video). Our first passage, outing, cruising event - what ever you want to call it - was a wild ride for sure and a fast lesson on trust - trust in our vessel and trust in each other.

Things I learned...

1). No see ums are real -- no matter how beautiful the sunset is, no matter how good your drink or the conversation is... best to get inside and close up all the screens as the sun is setting or risk being eaten alive by nasty little bugs that you can't see.

**Tips - Stock up on Avon Skin So Soft, Deet and Cintronella Candles.

**Special shout out to my girlfriend Tricia, who sent me some Skin So Soft -- Thank you Toots, you saved me!!

2). Don't put your phone on the swing seat and then wrestle with your puppy. Your phone might go swimming. (True story... let's just say, it wasn't my phone).

3) Stow everything... clear the deck... tie stuff down. Just sayin... I learned my lesson... two lines, one anchor and the puppy potty… gone... all overboard on our first day no less.

Sunrise on the Snake River, Everglades