(This was originally written on April 15, and has taken me this long to have time to post it to our blog. Oh well!)

This week in life living on a boat in a marina:

First of all, two couples living on our dock (C dock) were married on the dock. That was pretty cool. Love is in the air at Regatta Pointe. Ron and Ava chose a wedding with a pirate theme. Darryl and Lisa chose a Hawaiian theme. Both couples were lovely, and fun was had by all. Darryl and Lisa left this morning to complete the “Great Loop.” They will be heading south around the tip of Florida and up the east coast returning to their starting point. The “Great Loop” is a cruising passage up the east coast of the U.S, through the Great Lakes, down the Mississippi, into the Gulf Mexico, and back around Florida to the east coast.

Ron and Ava with their pirate wedding party

The canine contingent at Ron and Ava’s wedding

Darryl, Lisa, and the officiant on the back of their trawler. The wedding kiss is imminent.

Cindy, I, and others attending Darryl and Lisa’s wedding ceremony

Docked at Regatta Pointe for the past 10 days or so have been replicas of the Christopher Columbus’ Niña and Pinta. I must say I was surprised at how small they were and how little accommodations there were. It has certainly increased my admiration for their crossing the Atlantic in those vessels. But, the real reason they have my admiration is that they did so without GPS and chart-plotters. No VHF and SSB and AIS. My light understanding and skill at navigational techniques makes me wonder how any ship survived without all the modern-day conveniences. I definitely need to increase my skill set and knowledge base in case the electronics fail or malfunction.

The Niña and Pinta

At the tiller of the Pinta

Cindy on board the Pinta