What boating means to me

Can I just say how happy I am that spring has sprung?  I live in Florida with my husband, who for the sake of anonymity I am going to call Captain Kid, and while our winters are not long, cold and arduous, for people like me who love the heat, they sometimes feel that way. 

Every year as summer comes to a close I tell myself I am ready for all of the chores and projects I have saved for the off season and say goodbye to summer/fall and hello to winter.  But for some reason this winter seemed to last longer.  I thought as I got older the time would go faster, unless you are watching the calendar and praying for those April showers to get lost so I can get myself back to the beach, but this year time did not march on, instead it seemed to drag its feet.

So it was with great relief that this past weekend we were able to get ourselves out to the Marina and get our boat back on the water.  Captain Kid is never happier than when he is out on the water, maneuvering us through choppy waters as if we were on a cruise liner instead of our 27 foot bow rider.  

He is not the only one.  I too had missed flying across the inter coastal waterway rocking up and down to the cadence of a loud, large motor (I have no idea what size it is, but if I asked, Captain Kid would know) all the while a goofy smile on my face as I enjoyed the warming rays of the sun, thank you sun, and my ear buds pumping out Wheezer.

We are not by nature early risers, except, and I mean this sincerely, except, when it comes to the days that we are going boating. We are usually up before dawn with everything packed and ready to go before our Marina is even open.  We are the first ones to call in our request to put her in the water and we are the first ones down to board.

This past weekend was the first we actually got to go out and spend some quality time communing with the sea. We packed up a cooler, grabbed the grill and hit the water.  It was a great day and while I normally enjoy pitching my sunflower umbrella and parking myself in the sand, this weekend I found myself gravitating toward the bow of the boat where I hunkered down with my kindle and my cooler full with a six pack of Coke Zero's.  

I made it through two books and one magazine.  It was the best day I have had since we put the boat into winter storage last year.