Yes, you read that title correctly, we finally took our first trip! Where did we go, you ask? BOYNTON BEACH! LOL Sad, but true.
I had offered to babysit our friends daughters and we figured since it was a holiday weekend with no work going on, we would motor down the ICW (Intracoastal Waterway for you non east coasters), anchor off our friends house, dingy on over to play with the girls, spend the night down in Boynton on the boat and slowly make our way back over the weekend. Piece of cake. We consulted the charts and the waterway guide and made sure we were well prepared for the bridges, the depths, the time it would take to get down there…we were READY!
We left the mooring around 1ish, motored on down successfully through 5 bridges (only got yelled at by 1 bridge tender…don’t ask, I think she must be a Gator fan!) and arrived in Boynton around 4:00. We checked out several places to anchor and not one of them had enough depth for us, but on the bright side we don’t have any barnacles left on the bottom of the boat now (haha). We decided our only option was to anchor much further north than originally planned…which meant I couldn’t dinghy to go babysit. I was prepared to jog the 2 miles to their house when Bonnie and Pete, our super heros, came to the rescue and dropped off a car near where we anchored so I could drive to our friends for the evening, and not have to get my exercise in after all!
I know, it’s not much of a “trip” but it was our first time cruising this far south in the ICW, and our first time anchoring solo (yes I was nervous and yes we did it perfectly on the first try)! Even better is that Brutus did not pant one time, even though he didn’t take his xanax – we are on a roll with this cat!!! We stayed for 3 nights and had a great time! The trip back to the mooring ball was (fortunately) uneventful (unless you count the sailboat that ditched us in line for the bridge opening then almost hit the bridge!). We stopped to fuel up and attempt to empty the holding (poop) tank (unsuccessfully) and landed back on the ball just in time for happy hour! 
It may seem sad that a trip down the ICW was a huge confidence builder, but one of us (I’m not going to name names!) is a nervous boater and needs to take baby steps. Now (s)he is ready for a real trip! Next stop….Miami in February (baby steps, remember?).
Until next time, here’s hoping for smooth sailing (and an empty holding tank soon please!).
