A Year to Remember

How do you summarize a year like we had?  Blessed.  We have grown together as a family and a couple, seen and done some awesome things, had the best of times and the worst of times, met great people and most of all gotten a taste for adventure.  I think this taste for adventure, the willingness to step outside what is “normal,” may be the most important thing we got from the whole trip!   They say with cruising; the hardest thing to do is un-tie the dock lines and I would say life is the same – to step outside of what is comfortable and what everyone else is doing and do something unexpected.

Now having been off Viatori for a month and settled into life here in Alberta, it’s easy to forget the best times we had – the moments that took our breath away and will stick with us forever.  Here are a few of the best moments we had…

 

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Our very first afternoon out after leaving St.Petersburg!  It took about two hours to get from Salt Creek to The Sunshine Skyway.  We were “racing” a tanker under the bridge and saw a dolphin playing in the bow wake.

 

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I was nervous about staying too long in the Berry Islands and losing our weather window but after we got a new forecast, we decided to stay where we were and enjoy a beautiful day.  This was our first real taste of the cruising life.

 

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Sitting on the steps at Pineapple Fields Resort, Eluethera.  A great time reconnecting with my parents after a few months apart.

 

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The Glass Bridge, the skinniest part of the island with the placid Caribbean on one side and the unruly Atlantic on the other.

 

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The far side of Staniel Cay, checking out the surf with Wayne.  We didn’t realize until later we were posing so similar!

 

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Renting a golf cart and bushwacking our way down a “road” on Staniel Cay. Watch out for branches Leah!

 

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The end of an awesome day with Family Business, Celebration and other friends.  We all had dinner on board and enjoyed another sunset. Great people, great places and great times!

 

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After returning to Georgetown from Conception Island we got a new dinghy motor. This thing revolutionized field trips and getting around the harbor – changed our old Poop-Poop dinghy to Yami in James’ eyes. Ethan enjoyed water runs too.

 

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Fishing with Pirate Phil from Elizabeth Pearl.

 

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Our fisherman, James, as long as he stayed dry and didn’t have to touch bait or fish 😉

 

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The boys and Wayno at the Georgetown Yacht Club.  Our boys love the crew of Celebration!

 

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Chat n’Chill Beach

 

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A quiet spot on the mangrove stream where we left Viatori while we travelled inland from Puerto Vita.

 

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The best “living statue” we saw in Havana.  He scared the tar out of Ethan, but the rest of us loved it.

 

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Walking 300 year old streets exploring in Havana.  Yes, those are actual cannons!

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It was hot, hot, hot in this cab. No insulation on the black roof, no air conditioning and no seat belts so we hung out the windows. Back to Pepe’s for some down time.

 

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Classic cars and the capitol building in Havana.

 

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Hollywood Marina boat races!  This was our creation, named”The Beaver.”

 

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Thunder Mountain Railroad, our favorite roller coaster at Disney World.

 

We are so blessed and fortunate to be able to spend this year together in this way.  I think we definitely exceeded the drift!

Now, on to our next adventure, Oman!

4 thoughts on “A Year to Remember

  1. Good for you guys! I’ve loved reading about your adventures on Viatori. Looking forward to hearing more from Oman.

  2. Meeting you guys in Georgetown was a highlight in our adventure too!! Can’t wait to meet up with you again.
    PS…….still waiting for our 1st grandchild to arrive (our next adventure) Can’t wait to see and hear more from Oman!!

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