Sailing in Circles and The Christmas Boat Parade!

On this beautiful sunny morning Victor and I went out sailing! The wind was steady and the waves were gentle and calm. We enjoyed talking and eating. And then Victor seemed to be having fun steering the boat into rocks and sand bogs! (Just kidding!). No but really, he did great steering the boat in circles and then into the harbor. And he didn't even get sea sick! I'm so proud of him. Afterwards we took Buttercup, my dog, for a walk and learned that something special was happening after sundown. Victor had to get home but I stayed to see what was going on.

Later, I heard fireworks going off. Then I realized the Marina Del Rey Christmas Boat Parade was tonight! So I put my life jacket on, grabbed my flashlight and Buttercup and I kayaked out to see the parade boats pass by. They were all lit up so beautifully for Christmas with singers and dancers and people yelling 'Merry Christmas'! I found my friend Alecia and her family Shayna and Nathaniel, happily watching the parade. She was on her friend Rick's boat and invited me to hang out with them for a while! We waved and clapped as the boats went by and took pictures. She shared a Dr Pepper with me while I let Buttercup jump out of the kayak onto the dock to stretch her legs. We had a great time talking! Then Buttercup and I got back in and kayaked around the marina past parked boats with hundreds of people watching and cheering as we passed by. Everybody thought Buttercup and I were part of the parade and yelled funny things at us. One lady cried, 'keep working it!'
It gave me a natural high going past all the cheering people with my 'reindeer of a dog'! But after a while I realized I was going to have to kayak around the whole parade route or else zip real quick through the middle and back. So, staying close to the brightly lit boats, I used them as 'cover' and then made my break across. My double paddle dug deep into the cold water making the kayak plow through even faster than the big boats en route. That was fun - something I think everybody should try!