About a month ago I flew into Ft. Lauderdale and traded in my turkey burgers, Starbucks and land legs for a one-of-a-kind, whole food, plant-based sailing experience. S.V Rio and Wellness On The Sea has a bonus of having a healthy lifestyle coach for its captain. I was extremely excited to try this new adventure and hopefully learn a bunch in the process.
I boarded the Rio a 43 foot, Beneteau Cyclades, 3 cabins 3 bath. (She was built in France, in 2005) on a Thursday evening with a bit too much luggage than needed due to my upcoming other trips within a trip. Friday morning I woke up to a beautiful morning on the water. Jose, the captain made a gorgeous breakfast with a coconut fruit bowl and an avocado toast complete with fresh homemade juice. Jose’s friends and wonderful crew joined us and we set sail out into the ocean.
We were located on a canal and it was really fascinating learning the process of getting out into the ocean, especially when they had to call in two bridges that needed to rise to let us pass. Eventually we left the Ft. Lauderdale coastline behind us as we entered the ocean. It was a beautiful afternoon, my family and I even got to take turns learning how to steer the boat! Jose made us all a snack of hummus and tortilla chips before we made the long journey back. I’ll be honest, I did get a bit seasick once we were out in the deep blue and wasn’t feeling well until we picked up speed coming back and was skipping across the water.
After we docked back in Ft. Lauderdale I was able to take a nap before Jose made a beautiful dinner of a tofu bake, tamale, eggplant salad and rice. The next morning I ended up back on land for a couple of hours before I boarded a Carnival Cruise.
Overall it was a wonderful experience and I am definitely glad that I did it. I probably won’t stay on a sailboat overnight again as it is a bit too much like camping for my liking, but I loved the serenity, and peacefulness of being on the water and sailing. I am very glad that I tried it and I did have a lot of fun! Special thanks to Jose, Obie and Cory; y’all made this such a fun experience for my family and I!
Lipstick, Lattes & Pearls 