Friday, November 29, 2013

By Air, By Sea

A few weekends ago there was an air show in Marathon. We took the kids over so they could check out the planes and they were offering free rides for children between the ages of 8 & 17. Colby had shown an interest in flying since last year, when there was a 16 year old in the harbor that had just earned his pilots license. We immediately went to the sign up table and got both kids registered, took the first golf cart down to the staging area and waited for our number to be called. There were several pilots donating their time, planes  and fuel for the event, which I've noticed is a common thing here in Marathon. The city is constantly sponsoring events, many of which include food, games etc, all at no cost to the kids. It's a very family friendly and cruiser friendly (meaning free) town. 

We waited to see who their pilot would be, and lucky for us we got the one we were hoping for. I swear I could almost hear my buddy Tom Whitlock's song "Highway to the Danger Zone" playing in the background as this guy walked up. All business, aviators, full jumpsuit and the ideal character for the kids to fly with. We also noticed he was former Army & Marines!

The kids waited as he reviewed the paperwork and then it was off to the plane. He talked them through the preflight ground check and walk around, they got in the plane and taxied out to the runway. I saw Peyton wave as she passed by, while Colby was upfront and being instructed on the instruments in the cockpit. The flight was supposed to be 30 minutes long and they were gone almost 50 minutes (slightly nerve racking) We watched as they made the landing and I was surprised by the rough bounce before the plane actually touched down. I later found out why when the kids came over.

The pilot let Colby fly the plane the entire trip, from take off to landing only grabbing the yoke a few times to help Colby or show him something. Colby was all smiles we he got back to us and is very interested in earning his license at some point down the road. Another fun day in the keys, cost $ 0.00 !















































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2 comments:

  1. jackJanuary 1, 2014 at 6:01 AM

    I dont get it. You tell us all to sell out,go cheap,go cruising ect... and you trade up..........have to work again..............delay cruising...........and stop posting. Should I go with my small boat or trade up and keep working or go cruising and not worry about having the best boat ?

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    1. UnknownJanuary 7, 2014 at 5:49 PM

      Jack,

      A little over 2 years ago we hatched a 5 year plan to just be where we are today, we had no sailing experience and didn't even own a boat. 14 months later we were in Marathon FL on our 36 Watkins. 14 months and we were where we planned on being 5 years from now. We made the choice to go now and build our sailing kitty here, instead of doing it in Nashville. I had spent the entire last year working constantly on our boat, completely redoing almost every system to get it ready to cruise. The opportunity arose for us to get a proven cruising boat that was being offered to us for far below market value, a substantial improvement on every single level, so of course we took it. The plan was always to work, we just chose to do it here.

      When my wife and I found our current boat we had a long talk, the choices were to leave this season and go with the boat we had, or simply stay in Boot Key harbor for 1 year and leave next year with a much stronger boat, more money in the bank and dreams far bigger than we had to start. Jessica fell in love with the boat and it was an easy choice.

      If you don't like the blog by all means please don't visit, but your comments in the past and now are rude at best. We were ready to go cruising years ahead of when we had planned and will still end up leaving 3 years before we had planned to cruise full time if we leave next season. I don't need to justify my decision to stay another year with a much stronger, safer, more well equip boat, and with more money to cruise and stay out longer.

      We chose to do the pay as you go plan, we chose not to work for years saving but to work here and there as we went. As far as your situation I have no idea what to tell you, you make the choices. We were way ahead of schedule and I did what was best for my family and our long term cruising. Many times while cruising you'll find you have to make a decision that alters your plans, sometimes good, sometimes bad. Plans are nothing more than a loose guideline, they change like the wind and sometimes it's best to go with the flow.

      I would like to directly respond to your comments "and you trade up..........have to work again..............delay cruising...........and stop posting"

      1. Yes we traded up, we are now on a boat that fits our more long term goals (more on that later on) 2. I never stopped working completely, never planned on it. As a matter of fact I'll be working wherever we go to keep cruising. 3. I'm sorry my updates haven't been to your expectations, however with Christmas, New Years, birthdays and starting a new job I've been a little busy. I also sold our old boat, picked up a few more trades, AND have been working on getting familiar with a new boat and it's systems. What would you like me to post? daily? on the weather? I post when I think there is something people want to hear, not just for the sake of posting. Since the holidays I have just been busy, I've got a lot on my plate and to be honest the blog sometimes gets shoved on the back burner.

      Cory

      P.S. My wife and I only work 3 days per week.. I put in 20 hours a week here at the city marina driving a boat around in Boot Key, hardly what I call work. My job pays for the dinghy dockage, groceries, phone etc. Jessica works her 3 days as a waitress, watching boats come and go out of the harbor from a tiki bar, her money goes directly into savings. Our situation isn't hard, leaves plenty of time for learning new skills and sipping cocktails while enjoying all this life has to offer.

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