Fri, Dec 25, 2009 - Ft. Myers Beach, FL

It was a lovely 70°F when we got up Christmas morning, but mostly cloudy. The forecast called for a chance of showers and thunderstorms all day. We made a few more Christmas phone calls to family and then settled in for a relaxing day on the water. While Gale read up on the area, Maureen started cooking. She began with key lime pie using the key limes that had been handpicked for us from the tree at Bernie’s house in St. Petersburg. Because we didn’t have an electric mixer on board, we took turns whipping the meringue by hand. Next dish was the fresh cranberry sauce which was set aside to cool while she prepared the homemade lasagna.



Everything was ready at 3 pm when we sat down to enjoy the main course. As the lasagna was settling in our bellies, we exchanged gifts. We each unwrapped the gifts we had picked out for ourselves during the shopping trip in Clearwater: Gale got his deck shoes and Maureen, her polarized sunglasses. Gale also gave Maureen a small envelope with the note: “I hope you find this gift “a-luring” – which turned out to be a pair of shiny earrings shaped like fishing lures. She loved them! Gale had also written a poem,

“The Sailing Couples Creed”

May the winds never separate us and the rain never dampen our spirit.
May the sun always warm our hearts and the stars bless our souls.
May we always plan our sailing course and together sail our plan.
May our journey always be our destination and may we arrive
Forever In Love.


We went for a dinghy ride up a couple of nearby channels and took a short walk to Times Square between 4:45 and 6:15 pm. Then it was home for pie. Neither of us was tired so Gale stayed up until 11 pm and did some research on the internet related to the DSC capability of the marine radio. Maureen started a novel and read until after 1 am.