Seven years!

 We interrupt your not-so-regularly scheduled blog post to take a few moments to reflect as we celebrate our 7 year splashiversary (the day Rhapsody was splashed into the water as our home). We bought Rhapsody in 2014, but officially moved aboard in November of 2016. As I look back over my pictures to try to decide what to include it is very daunting to try to cull it down to a reasonable number. So much has happened in 7 years, so many adventures, so many friends, so many changes. 

November 2016 Nanny Cay, BVI

Always a joy to have the dolphins join us

Our first overnight sail, BVI to Sint Maarten with Mike and Robin on Mermaid. They taught us so much about making passages and charting our route.

We have become acquainted with quite a few varieties of lizards, geckos and iguanas in our travels 

Diving and snorkeling have been a constant activity throughout the years

Never get tired of sunset pictures!

Trying to spend as many Christmases underwater as possible

In Bonaire the dive sites are marked with yellow rocks with the name painted on them. This was a gift to us from fellow cruisers, John and Ziggy, formerly on WindDancer IV, and remains a cherished gift.

So many places share these blue tones, my favorite combination of colors!

A rare treat to see octopus, but always exciting

Even rarer are sea horse spottings

We have seen festivals in so many cultures

These are in Bonaire

9th

Celebrating Carnival

We have encountered lots of wildlife in various islands

Another picture of the transition of blues, snorkeling in the light blue to the right, diving in the dark blue to the left

Flamingos!

More festivals in French Polynesia 

very different from the Caribbean 

Swimming with Manta Rays in French Polynesia with Liane and Andrew on WaveRiders 

Monkeys in Panama 

Monkeys in Colombia

Traveling to the Galapagos

And across the Pacific to French Polynesia,  and beyond.

But it hasn't all been sunshine and mantas, we have had our share of problems, autopilot failures,  a lightning strike, fires, equipment failures, and less-than-fun passages. 

All of the above were great learning opportunities,  specifically learning, as much as possible,  how to avoid the issues next time! Unfortunately the next time will probably be a new issue, to learn from!

Here's to year 8, may it be full of adventure, friends, diving, and a minimal amount of equipment failures and related issues!