There are many things that we love about the boating community: the camaraderie, eagerness to help others, and the friendliness.  But the best part is the open arms we encounter each time we pull into a new port.  We meet so many people that within a few hours become lifelong friends.  I used to think with a giggle, “I have the best people in the world as my friends, I don’t really need anymore.”

Not so much now!

As we traveled south, we have met some truly amazing people.  One of the boaters we met in Palm Coast, Vic on the Salty Turtle, gave us the scoop on the Thanksgiving Day Mariners Dinner hosted by the town of Vero Beach, FL.  I immediately put that on my Must Do list and with some great weather, and good planning we accomplished this goal!  <HAPPY DANCE>

Thanksgivings lately are a time that we hosted our grown children for lots of food and fun <remembering the year we played badminton with garden rakes and shovels since we didn’t have rackets! >  And I thought it would be rather lonely for this holiday with just the two of us.  But I was wrong.  We had such a delightful time this year!

The town provided the turkey and ham and all of the boaters brought the side dishes and alcohol of course, we are after all true sailors!

So many people (most of them strangers) gathering together to give thanks with just the common bond of boating life.  It was surprising comfortable and “normal”.  Strangers sitting at your table, suddenly become your friends that you may end up spending many months traveling with.

I was told from a fellow mariner about meeting someone in the ICW in a most unusual way that ended up to be their traveling partners for 3 years.  We also hear stories of people that remembered a boat they encountered in Grenada that they finally met in person years later in South Carolina.  For such a big ocean, it seems relatively small.

After a delicious dinner, we were entertained by a group of musicians (two of them from the band and boat, Salty Paws) for hours with good music, singalongs and fun times.

The stories from the salty sailors flowed freely and the novice sailors like us eagerly asked questions and sought answers.

When should we make the jump? Where should we leave from? Where should we go first?

Sometimes I think  I would be aggravating to the new acquaintances with my barrage of questions but they never seem to mind answering them. Just like family members would.

How thankful are we to be welcomed into such a wonderful community: the boating community of strangers that become lifelong friends that quickly feel like family.