Southbound on the ICW for the Falcon 9 Launch

Today was one of those days where you have to keep reminding yourself that this is real life. I think about the boys someday telling these stories as adults, and how to so many people their childhood might sound exaggerated. But the truth is, in their short lives they’ve already seen and done more than most experience in a lifetime.

We left Ponce Inlet on the morning of December 8th and headed south toward Palm Beach, our jumping-off point. It was a slow, normal-enough start to the day. Ben had his English tutor, Theo made some Christmas decorations, Adam got his trades in at market open, and I prepped the boat, checked the weather, and plotted our course. Then we slipped our lines against a ripping tide and started down the ICW.

Not long after we were underway, we passed one of my best friend’s parents’ house. They walked out onto their dock and waved and yelled well-wishes as we cruised by. Moments like that have been one of my favorite parts of this whole adventure. In almost every port, there’s been a friend, new or old, waiting to say hi.

On day one, heading from Newport to Mystic, Adam got a text from Nanook’s previous owner with a photo of us going under our very first bridge of the trip. He just happened to be driving and was stopped for the bridge to open and spotted us. We all took that as a good sign for the journey ahead. In Mystic, we met a couple from England in a marine consignment shop and kept crossing paths all the way down the coast. In NYC we trick-or-treated with the Okkerses and had a chance meeting with one of Theo’s Vermont friends in Manhattan. We saw Emily after a long hospital shift in Northport; reconnected with our Newport marina neighbors in Annapolis; got a VIP tour at the Naval Academy from my highscool teammate Keelan; had dinner with our nephew Jack in D.C.; got a text from a friend that her parents were at our next anchorage if we needed anything; had a wonderful dinner with the commanding officer of Adam’s old unit and her family in Norfolk; caught a ride for a boat part from my friend Chris in the Outer Banks; raced to Charleston for a perfect low country weekend with the Ewings; ran into Bob Johnston at an Oyster Roast at Charleston Community Sailing; squeezed in a quick hello with Josh in Savannah; a trip to Disney and a visit with Mrs, Gloria and then, two days into Florida, bumped into a friend’s brother just walking down the dock.

This journey is big. Even daunting at times. But over and over again, we find little pockets of home wherever we go.

Back to today, which truly reads like a tall tale. Just before entering Haulover Canal, we spotted a bald eagle perched on marker 29. Weeks ago, as we left Newport, I was convinced I’d seen a bald eagle, only to realize it was a seagull, and it’s been the running joke ever since. So when Adam suddenly yelled “Bald eagle!” we all laughed until he added, “No, really!!!” And there it was, regal and completely unbothered by us and our gaping mouths.

A few minutes later, as we waited for the Haulover canal bridge to open, a dozen dolphins appeared, along with two manatees and what felt like a whole army of osprey. As the sun began to make its way closer to the horizon, we decided to anchor just south of the NASA railway bridge. It was a strategic and, as it turned out, lucky choice.The Falcon 9 launch had been scrubbed the day before and rescheduled for today, perfectly timed with our arrival.

We dropped anchor with a direct line of sight to the launch pad and settled in for the 5:26pm liftoff. I think I may have been the most excited of all of us. We streamed the countdown on the television, and at T-minus one minute headed up to the top deck. The launch marked the 32nd flight of booster B1067, the most-flown booster in SpaceX history. It carried the 3,000th Starlink satellite of 2025. The red glow lit the horizon, and then the rocket rose in a fiery arc before disappearing into low clouds. Even after it vanished, we heard the deep rumble roll across the water as it pushed through Max Q, something the boys and I learned all about on our NASA tour the day before.

Standing there together, barefoot on the top deck of our little floating home, watching a rocket pierce the sky. Its one of those snapshots I know will stay with all of us. These days can feel unbelievable while they’re happening, but maybe that’s exactly the point. We’re living life in a way that would sound made up if it weren’t unfolding right in front of us.

Someday the boys will look back and try to explain a childhood filled with dolphins and bald eagles, rocket launches at anchor, friends appearing in every harbor, and the steady hum of adventure stitched into their everyday. It will probably sound exaggerated. But we’ll know it wasn’t. We were there. We lived it alongside them.

And as the rumble of Falcon 9 faded across the water tonight, I found myself hoping that what stays with them isn’t just the excitement or the wild stories, but the feeling underneath it all. The sense that the world is wide and welcoming, that home can be found in a thousand unexpected places, and that the most extraordinary moments often happen when you’re simply together.

Because if this journey has taught me anything, it’s that the real magic isn’t in the places we go. It’s in the fact that we get to share them with the people we love.