7/8 - 7/16.....Hanging around the panhandle

7/8 - We had some early morning showers, then it cleared to a great day. We picked up the anchor @ 10:00am heading west. Cruised on past the Pensacola land cut and anchored in the Big Lagoon area @ 3:00pm. Went to the beach for "happy hour".

7/9 - Still on the hook. Boat cleaning day (inside and out) - then a lazy afternoon.

7/10 - Lazy morning, picked up the hook @ 10:00am and turned around to head back east. We anchored in Little Sabine Bay/Pensacola Beach (we will be here through the weekend for the Blue Angels show on Saturday). We had cocktails and dinner on board with Ken & Karen (the couple that bought the former "Conched Out Too" - the President 41 we had before this boat, now named "Chardonnay").

7/11 - Pretty morning and great day (we found out later that this was the calm before the storms). Joe & Janet Miller (from Ocean Springs) arrived on their boat "Miller's Time" around noon, just in time to enjoy the "dress rehearsal" for Saturdays air show. We invited the girls down for the weekend and they arrived with their entourage around 4:30pm. Amy & Leah with our grandsons Tyler, Brayden & Cole; boyfriends Chuck & Scott with Charlie, Madison & Katherine. If you're trying to keep track, that's 4 more adults, 5 teenagers, a 7 year old and us. Believe it or not, the logistics all worked out great - Cole slept on board with us and the rest slept at the hotel both nights; Ken & Karen got us parking passes for their cars, use of the condo swimming pool and also loaned us their kayaks to help with water transportation; the Millers loaned us their dinghy to help with the "water taxi shuttle" and we were set for the weekend. The 2 other boats we were waiting for came in. My sister Annette, her husband Barney Beebe (on m/v Journey) with my brother Paul & girlfriend Jeanie on board. The other boat with friends Richard & Trisha (on m/v Christine Noelle). We rafted up the 4 trawlers together for the afternoon so that we could all visit. "Journey" & "Christine Noelle" untied to set their anchors for the night. We cooked hamburgers for our crew and after dinner and a fun visit, Bill shuttled them back, so that they could head to the hotel for the night.

7/12 - We were all ready for a great day but woke up to clouds and a morning of scattered thunderstorms. We picked up the girls and their crew @ 8:30am. It cleared a bit, the other 2 boats came back to raft up for the day and we all got to enjoy some time in the water waiting for the Blue Angels Air Show to start. We had a great spot set up on the shallow shoal area with umbrellas, chairs, ice chests, etc. Janet had some great pictures of the raft up, but at some point she jumped in the water with the camera in her pocket - oh well! The show was delayed due to the weather, and around 1:00pm all hell broke loose (actually the _ _ _ _ hit the fan!!!!) WINDS, RAIN, MAJOR LIGHTNING - What a nightmare!!! There were people on the boats and scattered everywhere in the water. As the winds picked up and swapped around, boats started dragging anchor and stuff was flying everywhere. We untied "Journey" and "Christine Noelle" to lessen the pressure on our anchor (we had the only one down). Although our anchor didn't drag, our position change caused some very tense moments for us and the boats around us. Three hours later the winds, etc. finally started to subside, and we got word that the show was canceled and rescheduled for Sunday. We had dinner on board with our crew and afterwards, Bill loaded up the 2 dinghies and shuttled them back to the condo around 9:30pm. What a day - tomorrow could only be better!!

7/13 - We had a much better forecast and is was a clear and sunny morning. The water shuttle (Bill) picked up the kids @ 9:30am. It was a beautiful morning, not many people made it back into Little Sabine Bay for the show. I'm sure some of them will ever get on a boat again (we heard there were several reports of lightning hits and people in the hospital being treated). We set up our spot back on the shoal to wait for the show. It was a FANTASTIC show!!! The pre-show acrobatic planes were unbelievable and the Blue Angels gave all of us chills! Afterwards, we were all just hanging out, talking about the show when Bill looked at the sky to the north (not good!) We all went back to the boats for him to check the radar (much worse than it looked!), and we realized we were going to get hammered again. Since "Miller's Time", "Journey" & "Christine Noelle" were not rafted up to us, the first chaos was getting 10 people off of our boat, into 2 dinghies and back to shore to their cars before the worst of the storm hit. They made it, Bill didn't. It was a repeat of Saturday, except I was on the boat alone (well, me and Sassy - help that she is). It was raining so hard that I couldn't find him on the water, at all. I finally was able to contact the Hopkins on "Christine Noelle" (they were closer to the shore and in Bill's return path). After a while, they spotted him against the shore (the prop spun out on our dinghy motor and since the lightning was so fierce , he beached both dinghies and hunkered down under the bow) The winds were 30+ knots and I knew that was too much pressure on the anchor. I cranked the engines (actually I could only get one started) and eased up on the hook. After the weather calmed, Bill finally made it back to the boat. What a day!!! A little later, everyone from the 4 boats gathered on "Conched Out Too" for cocktails and to trade war stories from the day. It was an early evening and we went to bed exhausted.

7/14 - Everything on board was soaked, every towel, all rugs & crap was everywhere, but the sky was clear - the radar and forecast looked good. We started the clean-up process, then we picked up the hook @ 9:30am, all 4 boats headed to Sportsman Marina/Orange Beach. We spent the afternoon washing and drying the mountains of wet stuff. We had dinner on board with the Miller's and called it a day and had a peaceful night tied to the pilings.

7/15 - Barney loaned us his truck to run errands and re-supply, then "Conched Out Too" and "Miller's Time" headed back east to Big Lagoon for the afternoon and night. Great, great, great! No winds, no rain and most of all, no lightning! Afternoon spent on the beach on the gulf side - beautiful! Fantastic steak dinner on board, compliments of Joe & Janet, then we called it a night.

7/16 - We are going to hang here for a while longer. Joe & Janet on "Miller's Time" pulled out to head back home. They made it to Dauphin Island today and will make the rest of the run to Ocean Springs tomorrow. Bill had an afternoon business meeting on board with 2 of his associates. Afterwards, we all loaded up into Charles' center console and went to the "Oyster Bar" in Perdido. We had a great dinner and visit, then a nice run on the water back to our boat (it felt like we were flying in Charles' boat - we're not used to going that fast on the water).

A few pictures to follow later.

7/5 - 7/7.....Heading west along the Gulf

7/5 - Picked up the hook @ 6:30am and headed out of the Cedar Key NW channel. The weather looked good so we decided to make the run to Dog Island - south of Carrabelle. Had mostly flat seas and great weather (all of the scattered thunderstorms stayed away - woohoo for us!!! ) Put the hook down @ 7:30pm (another 13 hour run!) It was a long day, but worth it. Glad Bill made the call, if we had taken the shorter run to Steinhatchee we would have been stuck for a while - the weather went to crap along that area for the next several days.

7/6 - Picked up the anchor @ 8:50am headed up the river and into the ICW. We had a crab pot line wrap around the port wheel so we dropped the hook for Bill to cut it loose, then dropped the hook around Apalachicola to let a thunderstorm pass. Other than that, we had a good day. We cut off of the ICW at the Port St. Joe canal and went south across St. Joseph Bay and anchored off St. Joseph Point around 3:30pm. We mixed up a batch of margaritas, dropped the dinghy in and went through the pass to spend the afternoon on the beach. Very nice!

7/7 - Had another hellacious 3:00am thunderstorm - loud with a lot of lightening, very close by! It blew on through and by 8:00am we were able to head out of the channel into the gulf - Panama City or Destin bound - the weather would be the deciding factor. What a great day!! We had several pods of dolphins running under the bow. Off of Panama City we had 7 of them run with us for a couple of miles. I got some great video clips with my camera but couldn't get it to load on the blog. Their markings were different than most that we have seen - their sides and bellies were spotted and they had a bit of a hump forward of their blow holes. Came in through East Pass at Destin around 5:00pm and headed west in the ICW, to anchor at one of our favorite spots in "The Narrows".

6/26 - 7/4.....North along the west coast

6/26-6/28 We spent a few days checking out Sarasota and the part of town around Marina Jack, there is a beautiful waterfront park. It's really a nice area. Found several great restaurants and bars.

Took the tour of the John & Mable Ringling mansion, which overlooks Sarasota Bay and the Ringling Circus Museum which is on the grounds - quite interesting and very enjoyable. As always, it was hot during the day and by noon on Saturday we were ready to get out of the marina and back on the hook.

We beered up, iced up and slipped the lines @ 12:30. Took the short run down to Longboat Key and dropped the hook @ 2:20pm. We loaded up the dinghy and headed out the pass and to the beach. It was our first time to set foot on what we call a "real beach" in awhile (sugar white, soft sand). Great relaxing afternoon.

6/29 - Picked up the anchor mid morning to cross Tampa Bay and to check out a location around St. Pete. Dropped the hook in Boca Ceiga Bay across from the the city pier at Gulfport, FL. Someone recommended the marina and area here for a possible place to spend some time. We were not impressed.

6/30 - Picked up the hook @ 7:30am headed for Tarpon Springs/Anclote Key. We crossed into the gulf at Pass-A-Grille and had a nice run (SE winds 5kts., seas 1ft. with gentle swells). We pulled into the Tarpon Springs fuel dock around 1:00pm. While Bill was fueling I called in a "to go" order and headed over to pick it up. I couldn't stand the thought of being this close and not having some of the great Greek food that they are famous for. We enjoyed our gyros on the ride back down the river and dropped the hook at Anclote Key @ 2:30pm. Took the dinghy over for a little beach time. Had a wonderful Greek salad for dinner and some coconut macaroons to die for - you just can't beat Hella's Restaurant & Bakery!

7/1-7/3 We're ready to head north to Cedar Key, but the forecast and weather sucks! It's fine here at Anclote so we have several lazy days - reading, napping and cooling off in the water. The forecast for Thursday night was bad so we headed into the city marina at Tarpon Springs for the afternoon and night. Tarpon Springs is famous for its sponge diving industry (this is one of the boats at the waterfront).
Had a great dinner in town at Mykono's. The major thunderstorms and lightening hit around 3 - 4:00am and blew on through.

Happy 4th of July and Happy 62nd Birthday to Bill !!!

We had a good forecast for the day, so we slipped the lines @ 6:20am for the run down the Anclote River and north up the gulf to Cedar Key. We had a beautiful sunrise and a fantastic day. Put the hook down @ 3:00pm, floated in the water to cool off and to wait for the fireworks show. Two boats beached on the island right next to us to set up and we realized that we might be in the line of fire and become part of the show. We dropped back and reset the hook and had front row sets to a great fireworks show, both on the island and all along the waterfront of Cedar Key.

6/23 - 6/26.....Heading North SLOWLY !!

6/23 - Lazy morning, just hanging out. We headed into Naples City Dock Marina around noon and cleaned up the boat. Had cocktails and a great dinner with our friend and my former boss, Bill Hill at Tommy Bahamas. As always, it was great catching up with him.

6/24 - We had a hectic, busy, hot morning. Bill loaned us his truck so that we could run errands, reprovision and get Sassy groomed. We finished up and pulled out of the marina around 1:30pm and headed out of Gordon Pass to the gulf to take a look. Bill checked the radar again and it showed several major thunderstorms developing in the east and heading west, so we made a quick u-turn back to the protected anchorage in Port Royal. We had major thunderstorms, lightening , and high winds for several hours (glad it was during the daylight hours). Afterwards we had a beautiful full rainbow and a very soothing sunset. Fortunately we had a calm evening and night.

6/25 - Our plan was to head to Ft. Myers, so we got an early start (6:30am & a pretty sunrise!) to beat the afternoon thunderstorms. We lucked out and made it to Pelican Bay/Cayo Costa at Boca Grande Pass around 1:30pm with no storms!! We took the dinghy out to the gulf side so that I could look for treasures (seashells, etc.) No luck, but it was a nice afternoon.

6/26 - Picked up the hook @ 8:00am to head north. We wanted to run on the outside (gulf side) but had the same forecast as yesterday (70% afternoon thunderstorms), so we ran up the ICW. It's always a pretty view, but a very slow ride due to lots of "no wake zones".
Sassy has been very busy on "dolphin watch" for days now. Today she scored, we had several run with us for a while. Our luck held out for us again, we dodged all of the storms and pulled into Marina Jack in downtown Sarasota at 2:45pm. We've always wanted to visit here, so we'll do the "tourista thing" for a few days. We met Gil & Kathie (m/v Lotus) at A&B Marina in Key West and they are letting us use their slip here. What a great couple!! No matter where you are, you can't beat the "boating community".

6/14 - 6/22......Our last days in The Keys

6/14 - Bill took care of a few maintenance issues and I restocked the boat to get ready for our trip back up The Keys. I decided that we needed to take a last stroll down Duval Street for the afternoon and have dinner in town. When we got to Duval there was a parade headed up the street. What timing - it was Gay Pride Week and they were celebrating with a parade. What a hoot! Did you know that there was an organized group for the "Florida Gay Rodeo Association"? We've never seen so many rainbow flags!

6/15 - Ready to go! Headed out of the marina and into the channel, when Bill went down for his routine engine room check, he decided it was a "no go". He had been monitoring a fuel leak on the engine fuel injector pumps for a while and decided that he should make the needed repairs before we took off. We turned around and put the hook down in the anchoring field.

6/16 - Bill ordered the repair kits to be shipped overnight and we got a slip back at A&B Marina for a few more days.

6/17-6/18 - The parts came in and Bill started the repairs. He spent all afternoon Tuesday and Wednesday morning in the engine room. Everything tested and ran great - no more fuel leaks! We slipped the lines @ 12:20 and headed to the KW anchorage to relax for the rest of the day.

6/19 - Bill took care of another maintenance issue, then we spent the afternoon "dinkin and drinkin" around Christmas Tree Island and the KW anchoring field. There were some very interesting boats and some very odd things that we assumed the owners called boats. This was our last KW sunset. We had a beautiful evening sky that lasted for a quite a while.

To Date - 741 nautical miles

6/20-6/21 - Got the weather forecast we were looking for and all maintenance issues resolved (for now). Picked up the hook @ 9:00am and headed out. This was our final farewell to Key West (until next time!). Absolutely beautiful weather and calm seas. Cruised up Hawk Channel (Atlantic side) eastward to Marathon. We passed through the 7-Mile Bridge/Moser Channel and crossed back to the Florida Bay side of The Keys and dropped the anchor at Rachel Key/Crane Point @ 1:00. Perfect day and another beautiful sunset.
Saturday was just another lazy day in the same spot.

I thought that these shots were pretty funny. Not only are the locals from KW laid back, so are the cats!

6/22 - Farewell to The Keys - Headed for the Mainland!!! Picked up the hook @ 6:30am for our trip back north. Seas were less than 1 ft., winds SE 5 kts. and we started with a clear sunny day. All of the thunderstorms and rain missed us and we came into the Gordon Pass Inlet (Naples area) and dropped the hook in one of the canals in the Port Royal subdivision. Today was our longest run - 95nm and 13 hours from hook up to hook down.

6/9 - 6/13.....The Marquesas Keys with Steve & Lisa

6/9 - Steve & Lisa Bryant (from Ocean Springs) flew in today so we headed back to Sombrero Marina to pick them up. We had "happy hour" on the boat and dinner at Dockside.
6/10 - We had a good weather report for the day, so it was a great run down to the Key West anchorage. Dropped the hook @ 3:00pm, put the dinghy in and had a fun afternoon of "dinkin & drinkin" around the Key West Harbor.

6/11 - Picked up the hook for our first trip ever to the Marquesas Keys (the atoll 30 miles west of Key West). Bloody Marys, screwdrivers, sunshine and fair seas - it was a fantastic trip! About half-way out we were all out of cell phone and internet range, how great is that? Put the hook down on the west side around 3:00pm and headed for the beach and to the inside of Mooney Harbor. Beautiful water and what a vista!!! We found our 1st of 4 washed up refugee boats (at the end of this posting I have several shots that I took of the boats). Another beautiful sunset and a great night on the hook. Steve & Lisa are definitely "into it". This is their first vacation without the kids in 10 years (I'm pretty sure it won't be the last!).


6/12 - Lazy morning relaxing. Took a dinghy ride up the channel and into the heart of Mooney Harbor. After restocking the ice chest we set out for a beach day on the south side. We found 2 more washed up refugee boats there. Great afternoon on the beach and wading in the crystal clear water. Lisa and I found some treasures (sea sponges, shells and coral). We got back in the dinghy for a little more exploring. Found another refugee boat and some very shallow quicksand type water. Bill and Steve had to paddle/push us out since the dinghy couldn't be walked out.





























As always another great night on the hook - fun, funny and a beautiful sunset!


6/13 - The seas and winds were a bit more than we wanted, but we still had to go back to Key West for Steve & Lisa to head home. The winds were out of the east @ 15kts and the seas were 2 - 4 ft. It was a pretty bumpy ride most of the way in, but it sure makes us appreciate the stabilizers on this boat. We pulled into the slip at A&B Marina around 1:00pm. We had lunch, Lisa took care of a little bit of souvenir shopping and they took the drive back up The Keys to Ft. Lauderdale to spend the night. Their flight home was Saturday morning and by that afternoon I'm sure they were "back to reality" unless they were still in denial.

We're pretty sure they haven't taken their last trip on the "Conched Out Too". We all had a great time and it was great to have them on board.

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The following shots are of the 4 refugee boats that we found along the beaches of the Marquesas Keys. It really made us think about how bad it must be where they came from in order to risk their lives to try to get to America in one of these. We have no idea if the people made it to land alive or if they were caught at sea and sent back. When we were at the Dry Tortugas/Fort Jefferson last month, 3 similar type boats were on the beach there also.




In order to get a better idea of the crude workmanship, click on the individual photo to enlarge.

6/4 - 6/8.....Restocked, then back to business as usual

6/4 - Running low on beer and wine so we headed into Sombrero Marina (Marathon) for a quick turn-around. We restocked, took on fuel, cleaned the boat and had dinner at one of our favorite people watching spots - Dockside Lounge. It's always a show!

6/5 - Headed out around noon back to the Florida Bay side and dropped the hook @ 2:00pm. The winds are supposed to hang in around 15 - 20 knots for several days, so this is a great spot to be. 6/6 - 6/8 - Perfect location, perfect weather, lazy days, beautiful sunsets!!!!

5/28 - 6/3.....Back to being lazy & worthless

5/28 - Restocked the boat and slipped the lines @ 12:30 to head for the KW anchorage. We've had rain showers off and on most of the day, but it's been the first daytime showers that we've had since we started the trip.

5/29 - Beautiful, clear, sunny day. Another lazy day - reading and napping.

5/30 - Picked up the hook @ 8:45am and had a nice run back up to the Marathon area. Anchored off of Rachel Key (just off of Crane Point). Put down the anchor @ 3:00pm and had a relaxing afternoon and evening

5/31 - Moved the boat on down a little so that we could dinghy in to have lunch with Hollis & Sylvia Shoemaker (from Jackson). They had driven down to Key West from Miami and were on the drive back up. Had a great visit and enjoyed catching up on their news and family events. After lunch we headed back to Rachel Key to anchor.

6/1 - 6/3 - Not too much to report. When we get energetic we load up the dinghy for a little exploring and of course "dinkin & drinkin" around the area. The rest of the time we are reading, napping or floating in the water to cool off.



Forgot to include this shot from our day at South Beach. When I shot it , I was unaware of the folks in the background. Title for this is "Family Photo............priceless!" Click on the image to blow it up.

5/22 - 5/27......Party time with the girls!!!

5/22 - The last of our lazy days for a while. We picked up the hook at 7:30am to head into Sombrero Beach Marino/Marathon to restock and await the arrival of Amy, Leah, Chuck & Scott. They cruised in from Ft. Lauderdale around 2:00pm, in a red Mustang convertible and the fun times began! We got everything settled on board and went for a sunset cruise out to the "7-mile bridge" and back.

5/23 - Slipped the lines and headed out to Sombrero Key to snorkel, but it was too rough so we headed on down to Newfound Harbor (off of Little Torch Key) and took the dinghy out to the sandbar and hung out for the rest of the afternoon. Lots of laughs, lots of fun, lots of adult beverages!

5/24 - We had one of the crew severely wounded for most of the morning and into the afternoon (check with the girls to find out which one) but a recovery was made with a little "hair of the dog" by afternoon. We picked up a mooring ball at the Sand Key light (SW of Key West) to snorkel on the reef. We had a great afternoon of snorkeling, swimming and just hanging out. By late afternoon/evening Scott began his suffering with the after effects of too much salt water intake. We spent the night on the hook at the Key West anchorage.

5/25 - Bill brought the kids into KW mid-morning by dinghy to settle down "seasickness". We brought the boat into A&B Marina around noon. Spent the afternoon hanging around the harbor. From the pier we had front row seats for the "regatta" Schooner Wharf Bar was hosting. Most of the homemade "boats" couldn't make it around the short course and several sank at the starting line.

5/26 - Spent the afternoon at South Beach, went to Mallory Square for the sunset entertainment and then to the Tiki Bar at the Galleon Resort for sunset, here's one of the shots I took.


After sunset we went over to Alonzo's/A&B Lobster House for dinner - as always, great food! The crew headed out for the traditional "Key West Duval Crawl" for the night and the 2 smart ones stayed on the boat.

5/27 - Early start for the kids, they left @ 9:00am to drive to Ft. Lauderdale for their flight home and to recover from "Family Vacation with The Fockers" (those of you who have seen the movies may understand). We got the boat cleaned up and had an early evening ourselves.

5/18 - 5/21.....Just hanging out

5/18 - Took the dinghy over to Boca Grande beach (not much to it at high tide) but still enjoyed walking and wading around for a while. The winds started picking up so we headed back to the boat and picked up the hook at 11:30 and cruised on past Key West and back to Newfound Harbor. We anchored between Big Pine & Little Torch Keys. We've had a tough time with the sea grass clogging intakes on the engines, generator and air conditioners so Bill had to spend some time down below cleaning out the strainers on the intakes.

5/19 - Took it easy for the morning, picked up the hook around noon and headed back to the Marathon area and anchored at Burnt Point again. We love it here! Nice sunny afternoon spent floating in the water. Sassy is as worthless as we are!

These first 2 shots are tonights sunset, the third is the full moon rising - I'm still having a hard time getting photos where I want them on the page. For those of you that are also a novice with this blog stuff, I found out that you can click on a picture to blow it up to full size.



5/20 - 5/21 - More of the same. We decided to just hang here for a few more days. Took care of maintenance, washed the outside, cleaned the inside and spent most of the time relaxing and floating in the water. Tomorrow life will be drastically different - the "party girls" are coming!! Amy and Leah and friends will be here until Tuesday morning. We are looking forward to the fun.

5/13 - 5/17.....Pete's Big Adventure!!

5/13 - Beautiful morning, sunny, winds NNE 10-15 kts. All maintenance issues are resolved, boat is reprovisioned and Pete arrived from Biloxi on schedule (when you see him, be sure to ask him about his flight from Ft. Myers into Key West). Afternoon and into evening spent at Mallory Square for the "sundown ritual".

5/14 - 5/15 We planned to head out cruising, but the winds didn't lay down so we bummed around town for 2 days. Pete now knows where every waterfront bar is in the harbor area. We never really got far enough away from the boat to do the "Duval Crawl". Patty and Pete took the "Conch Train Tour" (great way to see the "Old Town" area) so he at least knows there's a lot more to the town.

5/16 - The 3 of us took the "Yankee Freedom II" (fast cat boat) to the Dry Tortugas to tour Fort Jefferson. After the tour we spent the afternoon snorkeling (a first for Pete!) and hung around the beach until time for the boat ride back. Fun, but tiring day!!



5/17 - Pete had an early morning flight out, made it home without any problems - and fortunately had a bigger airplane out of Key West. Hopefully he had as much fun as we did!


We slipped the lines from the marina around 11:30 and headed west to Boca Grande Keys to anchor for the night. Put the hook down at 2:30 and had a lazy afternoon.

5/9 - 5/12 ..... Still Cruising!

5/9 - Another beautiful day, picked up the hook to make a move on west down the ICW - Bayside to the Marathon area, dropped the hook at one of our favorite anchorages - Burnt Point. Spent the afternoon floating in the water with a beer or two.

5/10 - Flat, calm, sunny & hot - made for a great day to cut through Moser Channel (7-mile bridge) for a cruise on the Atlantic side down Hawk Channel. The water was so calm and clear that you could see the bottom, we also saw several sea turtles swim by. Dropped the hook in Newfound Harbor Channel, just north of the "ritzy" Little Palm Island Resort. Put the dinghy in to hang out at the the locals version of Destin's "crab island".

5/11 - Picked up the hook @ 9:00 for the 4 hour run down to Key West. Dropped the hook at Fleming Key - the anchorage area just off of Key West.

5/12 - Headed in to A & B Marina to take care of some maintenance and medical issues and to await the arrival of Pete.

5/7 - 5/8.....We're back on the hook!!!

5/7 - We washed off the construction dirt and untied the lines @ 11:20am. Headed on down The Keys a little and put the hook down @ 12:45 on the NW side of Shell Key (which is a state park, but you are not allowed to go ashore - go figure!). What a great spot - even though we can see the bridges and traffic on US 1, it looks and sounds like we are far, far away from civilization. The key that we are closest to is Upper Matecumbe Key (still part of Islamorada) and are about 2 miles from the bridge in the picture. Had a lazy, sorry day - finally!! Reading, napping, reading, napping. Just what we've been working toward. Had an amazing sunset!! Someone with the initials PLD failed to get a picture.

5/8 - More of the same as yesterday. We did get energetic enough to put the dinghy in to do a little exploring. Sunset was fair, but the night sky is unbelievable. Tomorrow we may get ambitious enough to make a move. What a great mode to be in - all of the months of hard work are finally paying off.

5/4 - 5/6....Still tied to the pilings!

We are still tied to the pilings at Plantation Harbor Marina, but have been lucky enough to relocate and get out of the construction zone (we had been right next to where they are rebuilding the marina piers). Our parts came in and on Monday Bill successfully installed the new air conditioner and 0n Tuesday installed the new sewerage holding tank (what a crappy day for him!). We are glad that all of that is behind us. Although the folks are super nice, being tied up in a marina is not what we had in mind for cruising!

4/27 - 5/4.....Biscayne Bay to The Keys

4/27 - We've had great weather for cruising down through Biscayne Bay. It's like a major interstate (except with boats) on the weekends. Put the hook down at Sands Key and took a dinghy ride to explore Boca Chita Key & Marina. Today (Sunday) was the day our "Bimini Buds" are making their passage over to Lake Worth.

4/28 & 4/29 - Cruised on down thru Biscayne Bay to North Card Sound/Middle Creek. Spent the afternoon "dinkin & drinkin" thru the canals and channels at Ocean Reef Resort (Key Largo area). Made a pass thru Angelfish Creek channel out to the Atlantic just to take a look (the seas were flat & calm). Picked up the hook cruised through Jewfish Creek and dropped the hook in Tarpon Basin.

4/30-5/2 - Winds picked up and were predicted to be 15-20 knots, so we got a slip at Plantation Harbor Marina (Islamorada) for a few days. We rented a car to run errands, pick up supplies and to go out for dinner. The 4 of us had a great dinner at Marker 88 Restaurant Wed. night and a send-off dinner for Steve & Rose at the Island Grill Restaurant Thur. night. They drove back up to Ft. Lauderdale on Friday to catch their flight home. We've had a blast and look forward to future cruising with them!

5/3 & 5/4 - We're having to stay put several days (waiting for a few items that we ordered to be delivered) but we've lucked out. This weekend is "Island Fest" here in Islamorada and it's being held in the park right here adjoining the marina. Greg "Fingers" Taylor (from Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer Band) played Saturday and put on a great show. Also had a crew building a cool sand castle on the beach.

4/26/08 - We're back from the Bahamas!

Had our last afternoon of "sundowners" with the crew in Bimini, took pictures and traded contact information. Hopefully we'll get the pleasure of seeing some of them again.

Slipped the lines around 6:30am for our trip back across the Atlantic. Had a good day! Winds were on our stern, with 1 - 2 ft. seas and moderate swells (of course it was nice that the stabilizers did their job).

We came into the channel in Miami around noon, tied up in a marina, got a cab and cleared customs without a hitch. What luck!

We are on the hook off of Key Biscayne, with Miami in the background (what a view at night!). Will be heading a little further down Biscayne Bay over the next few days.