Another gorgeous marina morning in St Pertersburg.

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Winter vacation.

Where do folks who live in Florida go for vacation in winter? Father south.

Next week Cathy and I get on a plane to St Martin for ten days with friends on a Jeanneau 43. We'll cruise over to St Barts for an experience of Caribbean chic. Then we'll cruise down to St Kitts, Nevis, Statia, Saba for an experience of undeveloped colonial Caribbean.
It's been about six years since I was last in those islands. Cathy has never been to St Martin or St Barts. Our friends have never been to any of those islands. Moreover, they've never done a charter yacht vacation. It will be fun for me to be back there, and fun as well to see the others enjoying their first experience.

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Running disaster.

Running is my mainstay. For decades I have relied on running for my emotional as well as physical wellbeing. If I go more than a day or two without a run, I feel the fire of life within burning less intensely.

But now I have an injured ankle. I've been ramping up for a half marathon in February. Recently, when nearing the end of a long run my ankle began to hurt. I took some extra time off to recover, but when I tried a short slow run the pain again flared up.

I'm off running until I can see a sports medicine doctor. I'm hoping the doctor can get me back to some level of running soon. I need my mainstay. I don't want to miss the half marathon.

Meanwhile, I'll try to offset the loss of running with more bicycle riding.

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Back at work.

We were over in West Palm Beach for Christmas weekend with Cathy's family. I drove back early to help with the demands of business activity, which included skippering a sunset sail.

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Sailing Florida fleet on a picture perfect morning two days before Christmas.

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Anchored for a quiet evening off Pt Desoto.

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Zen Moment

Pre-dawn run along the Tanpa Bay waterfront through downtown St Petersburg.
66 degrees F.
Paved park walkway winding beneath palm trees.
Eastern sky turning pale blue.
Flights of pelicans and egrets coasting just beyond the shore in perfect formation with their reflection in the calm bay.
That moment I think, this is like running through a picture postcard.
Next moment, no - this is where I live - St Petersburg in December.

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St Petersburg Boat Show

As we did last year, Sailing Florida worked with Discover Sailing to get folks out on the water. Hence my job throughout most of the four day show was to take people out on our Catalina 440. Here are just a few of my passengers.

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