Over the past few weeks, we have felt a need for quiet reflection and being with nature. Cortado has been the perfect place to do this. We have worked so hard to get here – this magical place of low-stress, high-energy and uninterrupted adventure. Our mission is to extract the good from each day and learn all we can along the way. We love our life and yet we know we must do more to inspire hope and affect change. How? …is the million dollar question.

We chose to spend the holiday in beautiful Eau Gallie, Florida. The cove is rife with dolphin, manatee and birds of every size and variety.   

Start small. For us, Thanksgiving is a quiet affair. We spent our day al fresco, committed to our small family, enjoying the sun and our beautiful boat. With Sydney and Dan, we made cool turkey hats, paddled, swam and cooked up a storm, thankful for the quality time and each other. We love tradition and in our boat-kitchen we managed a simple feast of grilled chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy and lots of veggies.  We set up a gorgeous candle-lit table on the flybridge – a perfect Thanksgiving onboard.

Oliver and Dan enjoying post-paddle french toast in the cockpit.

While we maintain our traditions and quality family time – which are imperative for us – we also had great discussions about the future… specifically humanity, environment and how we can all do more.

Make a difference. One daily ritual we have on Cortado is taking the nets out each morning to pick up any trash that has accumulated around the docks overnight. In addition, we are making changes in our shopping to avoid unnecessary plastics when possible and otherwise attempting to reduce our family carbon footprint.

In Brooklyn, Sydney and Dan have started a weekly Sunday morning “Trash Walk” in their neighborhood. It may seem like a small thing, but they know they are making a difference and absolutely the small things matter.

No matter our location, cooking together and creating wearable ART are Rey family Thanksgiving traditions!