July 16

July 16. We had dinner with Capt Bill H. last night. During conversation he wanted to know if the good times outweighed the bad.

It seems that most of the times that I’ve recounted are when things aren’t going just right. Dragging boats, inconsiderate boaters, unsettled weather, breakdowns, jet skis and the like.

I need to make it clear that the difficult times were pretty much what we had expected while the good times were better and more numerous than we ever could have hoped for. They say that “attitude is the difference between an ordeal and an adventure”. Christy and I try to see life like that; the glass is half full. So even when things aren’t going as smoothly as we’d like; ultimately we’re in charge of our own destiny.

We do our best to limit our exposure to the predictable pitfalls and we actively react to the unexpected. For every unexpected squall there’s dozen’s of breathtaking sunsets. For every “captain” that can’t anchor there’s the satisfaction of being master of your own situation and handling the unexpected.

I can’t say enough about the beauty of our country. The wildlife is incredible and the sunsets are absolutely amazing. The sunrises would be wonderful if they just weren’t so damned early so that’s a toss up. We can’t wait to see more of the world.

Stress is a relative term, admit it, you’ve probably wanted to murder that guy who slows to a crawl in the E Z Pass lane on the highway, I always wanted to. Now the stress of transiting a rough inlet is something we deal with and get to come out of with a feeling of accomplishment. We get plenty of chances to doubt ourselves but we try our best to turn them into opportunities to prove ourselves. It like hey look; the boat can handle it and so can we.

The biggest plus is the people that we’ve met along the way. Most of the people in the towns and marinas along the way have been extraordinary. Even when we meet someone we don’t care for we just keep moving, no biggie, or I introduce Rumboy and they usually leave at first opportunity, lol.

We’ve been given the opportunity to help strangers when they’ve needed it most. I can’t begin to explain the deep feeling of satisfaction it’s given me to help someone when they needed it. I know it sounds corny but a heartfelt “thank you” can be an extremely gratifying thing. Besides, I’m filling my Karma box with bonus coupons.

A lot of the cruiser’s that we’ve met have become friends that we keep in touch with and look forward to crossing wakes with again. The amount of people willing to help you when you need it is staggering. Whenever we walk a strange town we can always spot the other cruising couples. They’re either lugging 50 pounds of laundry or they’re holding hands.

There are negatives. We don’t see family as often as we did but I’ve noticed that its become quality time when we were reunited rather than taking anyone’s presence for granted. So even that can be a good thing, remember, the glass is half full. But saying “good bye” does suck.