Seeing the ocean for the first time

Off we went in our Ryder rental truck with all our possessions, including our German Shepard and Siamese cat.  We drove to Dallas first, where my dad sold his Jaguar to a family that had a game room downstairs with video games and pool tables.  That is the only part I remember from the drive until we got to the Keys.  Seeing the ocean for the first time was incredible.  I was absolutely fascinated with the smell of it and the sound of the seagulls.  Anyone who has experienced this knows what I am talking about.  The ocean is magical.  I have no idea how we ended up in Islamorada.  My parents found a couple selling a 26 ft mahogany sailboat that had been used for racing.  The name was Lawanda.  Stupid name for a boat.  So.....my parents, my brother and I as well as the cat and the dog moved onto this tiny little boat.  Needless to say we no longer had our own rooms.  We each had a bunk with the typical foam mattresses covered in canvas in the back of the boat.  His bunk was on one side of the steps mine was on the other.  And of course, no TV and no phone.  The coolest thing about the whole scenario is my brother and I could not swim.  Imagine a little kid in the middle of the friggin' ocean, seeing it for the first time and not being able to swim.  My parents were trying to teach us so they threw those stupid orange life vests on us (not fashionable) and had us get in the water.  That totally freaked me out.  It was murky and I had watched Jaws before leaving Colorado.  I knew a shark was going to bite my legs off.  My parents had never sailed before or knew anything about boats.  I think that is awesome.  I credit them for being so brave and doing something others would have been to afraid to do.  Especially with a family.  We were anchored off of the basin where Worldwide Sportsman in Islamorada is today.  The first time we tried to sail out of the basin we ran aground.  I saw a pink bird once in the shallows.  My parents thought I was a retard and had imagined it.  Turned out it was a roseate spoonbill and I was not retarded.  It was winter time for the Keys, but being from Colorado we were in our shorts.  It turned out to be a very cold winter in the Keys.  Fish were floating up on shore dead.  It was a good opportunity for my brother to walk around with a stick poking their eyes out.  My parents ended up becoming good friends with the couple that they bought the sailboat from.  They owned Calvert Sails and and it turned out they were pro windsurfers.  Thus our introduction to the world of windsurfing.