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A birthday cruise to remember!

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale...

Okay, we didn't get shipwrecked, and we didn't wind up stranded on a desert island, but we should have known better than to schedule a sunset cruise during a Florida summer evening. It had been a dry summer so far... no rain at all that week... so we went ahead with our plan to celebrate Dad's and Donna's birthdays aboard the Cookie Cutter yacht.

Things were going swell. We were all enjoying ourselves either on the bow or the stern decks... and the folks waving at us as we headed out, warning us about an upcoming storm, didn't worry us one bit. Since it was Dad's birthday, we had a special guest join us for the cruise.

As we headed out to the Caloosahatchee River, we discovered the storm was bigger and closer than we thought... and it was headed our way.

Once the rain started, it didn't stop... most everyone headed indoors, but a few brave souls preferred the cool air of the outdoors (of course, it was cool because it was wet!).

The water was a bit rough, but not too scary (the water was very shallow where we were). We did have one incident where the Captain decided to turn and head back towards port... I guess we hit a wave unexpectedly, and the boat tipped considerable to the port side. Unfortunately, the appliances in the boat weren't really setup for this kind of weather, and the refrigerator and TV fell over. I was able to catch the fridge, and TV didn't sustain any damage (though we kept in on the floor instead of putting it back on its stand), but the incident did increase the tensions of some of the passengers, and some lifevests were brought out...

Even George W. needed a little reassurance (though I think he was just setting a good example for the kids).

The Captain soon found a harbour in which we waited a short while for the seas to calm down, and we even found time to celebrate the birthdays (though, I refused to light a flame with the boat being tossed about, so we didn't have any candles on the cake).

We eventually made it back to port, everyone safe and sound. Personally, I thought it was an adventure that will be remembered much longer than if we'd had a storm-free evening. Besides, I have plenty of sunset shots... just check out my Beach Week pictures.

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