Being Grateful

1/10/2019 Thursday
     We stayed in Clearwater for the day.  I am so grateful that Karl has his USCG Captain’s license!  He completed the certified course many years ago, attending classes at Tallahassee Community College at night. It was a complicated curriculum: learning the international rules of the road, chart plotting, safety regulations, basic weather, boat systems,  tidal calculations, anchoring, docking, passage planning, navigation, etc!  He had to document his sea time experience on our boat, pass a physical exam and drug screening and apply for the license.  He took the rigorous exam in Panama City and passed with flying colors! As with any kind of license, he has kept up the certification throughout the years.
     I am grateful that he had the initiative to put in the studying that this required, not only because I knew we were safer at sea, but because I know this gave him confidence on the water.  It has also been helpful when we chartered sailboats in the British Virgin Islands, which we have done about a dozen times.  That has been wonderful experience and so much fun!  We have chartered boats in the San Juan Islands in the Pacific Northwest,  various locations in the  Caribbean,  and sailed in the Bay of Islands in New Zealand!  We even chartered a sailboat in Tahiti and Bora Bora for 2 weeks, Just the two of us and it was a dream come true!  I have taken basic safety courses, sailing and motoring courses as well.  We have also taken our own boat to the Bahamas about ten times.  We have been boating for at least 30 years, have owned 10 boats, enjoyed fishing and cruising on the Gulf of Mexico.  Every time we take the boat out, we learn new things.   That is what keeps boating interesting!
     Karl spent some time today charting and plotting our course to our next destination, which will be Sarasota.  He of course knows paper charts, which we used to use many years ago, spreading out the paper chart on the table, using a parallel ruler, compass headings and protractor, but now times have changed! He can use the IPad!  He uses Navionics and Aquamap.  We have a chart plotter on the helm and GPS.  For me, it is still complicated, so again I am so grateful for my husband’s love of learning and passion for boating!  I can usually just enjoy the ride! I must say though, in reality we both put in the work it takes to operate our boat safely.