A very special Thanksgiving

Let’s break it down

Sometimes I break a word in half to see what it means. Let’s do it. “Thanks” “Giving” There couldn’t be a better word. We like Thanksgiving because we have a lot to be thankful for and we like to share it with our family. In this case for the umpteenth year in a row we invite our kids to join us on the boat for a tropical vacation. Last year it was in the Dominican Republic. Although it was fun the sailing sucked and there was no diving. There were no people either. It was like the set of a Walking Dead episode, however we always manage to make fun out of what we have so we did. This year was different.

Curacao

Hmmm, Can’t break this word down….what does it mean? Websters says it’s the liquor made from the peel of sour oranges. I don’t know about that but they sure make an awesome rum called Blue Curacao. In fact they should change the name of the island to Blue Curacao for the drink and the water. I mean it. This water was like Bonaire. We had 150’ visibility while diving. Since normal is about 50-75 this was like looking out your car window. We loved Curacao. In total we spend about 8 days there. We got to know the place. Normally we are on a faster pace to move on but here we lingered.

Family Time

I keep saying “my kids” and people say “oh that’s great …how old are they” Let’s get this straight. I had kids young by todays standards and they are all adults now, in fact I have been a grandfather since I was 48. When we take Charli to the mall some think she is our kidJ Well at least Lennie’s. Little kids are fun but I sure like em’ big! They work hard and smart and they play hard with us. They are adventurous, they love all things nautical and never question Lennie’s and my passion for traveling by boat. In fact I think their work ethic and desire for success has something to do with wanting to follow in our footsteps. Traveling by boat. Raising their children to be boaters. And the world goes around. This is how my father raised me. I can’t really remember a life without boating and neither can they. The secret of a boating life is your kids’ desire to hang out with you. That’s right. Boating keeps families playing together. Even when they were teens and I was an “idiot” they spent their weekends with us, they never picked anything over boating.

This trip is mostly a family vacation so I apologize if it’s not the regular episode content. But if you watch it you may be inspired to use the boating tactic to keeps your kids close to you. And in the middle is a very special message from a YouTube follower that puts the exclamation on this point. I hope you all enjoy it.