Vacations are always tough to return from. This year’s vacation was no different in that sense. What was different however, was the fact that I (and I’m sure to a large degree, the cumulative “us”) did not want to leave the ocean, AT ALL. This was clearly evident in our attempt to get out of Miami Beach last Friday. We had told the kids and told ourselves that we will go down to the beach and have a quick swim and play in the sand for about 30 minutes. Then we’ll get everyone cleaned up and get on the road to head home. Well, that’s not exactly how it went.
When we have been in Miami Beach before, the Atlantic is often smooth as glass at sunrise (depending on the weather). We’ve been blessed with great weather thanks to Michelle’s “weather karma”. This trip was no different in that we had great weather all week. However, each of the sunrises I awoke hoping to see glass but was instead greeted with waves breaking on the beach. Now, I’m perfectly ok with waves on the beach. I love them, I love the sound of them, the smooth foamy white lines appearing and disappearing just as quickly as they roll in. But, if you have never seen an ocean smooth as glass you have been missing out. It is a sight to behold. Granted, on the boat it’s not that much of a good thing since if the ocean is smooth as glass you are most likely becalmed. Translation: sitting still! On a passage, that’s NOT what you want. But for us at the beach, it’s awesome.
Last Friday’s ocean was different from the rest of the week though. I woke up and made my coffee and walked outside to watch the sunrise. The water was smooth and still. Every now and again a small (read 3″-4″, yes that’s INCH) swell would glide along the beach. I’ve seen lakes, ponds, pools, bathtubs with rougher water. This did not fare well for our “30 minute then we’ll go” mindset.
When we made it down to the sand and walked in, the water was cool but not cold and super clear. I am just a hair taller than six feet and in water up to my chin I could look down and see my toes in the sand. Getting in the car and driving for 22 hours was the very furthest thing from my mind at this moment. Everyone had fun, we swam, looked for coral pieces and shells, swam some more, played in the schools of fish, caught tiny little crabs, shrimp and fish that would piggy-back in the small bundles of seaweed and I watched a large Atlantic stingray cruise in front of me. We followed all of this up with a quick dip in the pool to rinse the salt off and really to delay the inevitable. Our 30 minutes turned in to two and a half hours. Our attempt to leave Miami Beach before lunch failed and we did not make it out of town until about 1:30 PM. So much for plans.
However, there is a lesson to be learned from this. If there is one thing about the cruising lifestyle that I have learned it is that the cruising lifestyle is not always an act of being out on a boat in some remote location or tied up in a marina or a mooring. It is more than anything else a state of mind. It goes hand in hand with sailing in general where schedules and plans aren’t always good things. Not because not having a plan is a way of thumbing your nose at the status quo but because out there, your plans and schedules are dictated by the weather and life and all sorts of things. You have to learn to “go with the flow”. This is exactly what we did, we didn’t freak out that we missed the departure window and that leaving after lunch might affect just how far we got that day. We just went with the flow and let things happen. In the end it actually worked out quite well. We made good time, found a good place to stop for the evening and were in a good spot to do what we needed to do the next day which was to stop and visit the USS Alabama as one of our oldest son’s birthday presents. For the record, 16″ guns are friggin HUGE!
I’ll leave the boat stuff from the week for another post.
[ad#Post]