Stats for Thursday, December 6, 2018

Origin: Rowe House, St Pete Beach

Destination: Gulfport Anchorage

Distance: 4.7 miles

Speed: 6 mph

Time on the Move: 47 minutes

After a super late night getting back to the boat around 2 am we were absolutely exhausted the next day. I was up at 7 to pick up my mom so I could return her car, and I almost felt sick I was so tired. Mike felt the same way and I’m sure the kids were worn out as well. Moving the boat seemed like a huge task when all we wanted was to rest and relax, so we were extremely thankful when the Zeeffs told us we should join them in Gulfport. They had moved just down the ICW about 10 miles while we were in Disney. We were thrilled to have someone give us a destination, tell us the weather was good for traveling, and have children that would entertain our children when we got there. We took care of necessary boat chores and sent Grandma on her way in her car before pushing back from the dock heading for Gulfport.

The trip was short and was fairly uneventful. We anchored in a bay just outside from the marina and made a quick lunch. We wanted to meet the Zeeffs at a deserted island about a mile away to let the kids explore. The Zeeffs stopped by on their dinghy on their way to the island while we were eating lunch. Then about 5 minutes later, when we were still eating lunch, they stopped back by and said they had an emergency with a patch on their dinghy because it suddenly became unglued and so they were headed back to dry land. That was a big bummer because it meant they wouldn’t be joining us at the island, but it was good that they realized they had a problem before they got too far from land. So after lunch we set out for the island solo.

It was a nice dinghy ride, but unfortunately we approached the island from a very shallow area and ended up having to walk about 100 yards through ankle deep water, pulling the dinghy behind us. Turns out if we would have approached from a different angle, we would have been in deep water the whole time. Who knew?!

The boys loved the island!! Right away they found spiders in the woods that had pointy yellow corners and a smiley face on their backs. Then they found multiple tree forts to climb up into and explore. They found a long stick and a rope and a coconut and sea slugs. The entertainment for them was endless. Hayley didn’t seem to enjoy the island quite so much. She wasn’t in to the spiders, didn’t appreciate the unknowns of the tree forts, and definitely hated the sea slugs. So basically, she hung close to mom.

We walked around the edges of the island and enjoyed the warm sunshine. Soon enough, though, the island excitement wore out for mom and dad and we were pulling the boys out of tree forts to get them back on the dinghy. We rode over to the town of Gulfport next and explored along their main strip. It looked like a fun place with several shops and restaurants right along the beach. There was a free dock for day boaters and dinghys to tie up temporarily. After walking around town we headed back to the boat for dinner and bed. We were still recovering from the Disney trip and we were thankful for a low key day to ease back into boating.

Thanks for reading and following along!!