TOWN DOCK, NEXT TO SLIM'S FISH CAMP, BELLE GLADE, FL

Johnny B

Free Dock

Bird mating dance

The misspelled No Swiming sign and warning for the single alligator that stalked the bathroom

A rare Florida Pelican

Slim's

View from bridge that leads to Slim's

Bridge that leads to Slim's

Free Dock

The Buccaneer

The Buccaneer in paradise

Some record fish on display at Slim's

The Buccaneer hiding out

The hand-crank bridge that leads to Slim's

20 to 31 January, 2005. As soon as we passed through the lock and into the lake, the waves were hitting us from the side and we rocked pretty hard. The shelves in the boat were falling over even though the waves weren't all that big. Rocky took the tiller and I worked on the computer. We saw at least 20 monster alligators in Lake Okeechobee- some at least 12 to 15 feet long. Scary but also very cool. About 2 hours into the trip, we arrived in a protected channel and the trip smoothed out. Before arriving at the town dock, we passed under a manually operated bridge. This poor guy breaks out a long metal pole, inserts it into the bridge gears and begins walking the wheel. After we were docked, I was able to ask him if they paid him well and he said that they did. The town dock here is in the middle of Slim's Fish Camp. The marina here is totally destroyed but there are many campers and fisherman around.

We were able to hook up to the free electricity at the fish cleaning stand here. Free dock with free electricty- priceless. This place is a bird watcher's paradise even though most of the birds are pelicans. I walked the 2 to 4 miles into town (Belle Glade) several times for supplies since the small store here is not only limited but they don't accept credit cards. I see lots of turtles in the creek along the way. Somewhere along the line, I threw my lower back out (still don't know how) and I could barely stand or walk for several days. Even after nearly a week, it still hurts but I'm much more mobile. Rocky caught 2 catfish here that he cleaned and cooked. And on January 30, a pelican collided with a transformer that cut power to he entire camp. When the transformer exploded, so did the pelican. Power was restored that night. Also, I was able to open a new ebay sellers account so when the first of the month arrives, we can start posting on ebay again. Hopefully they won't make the connection to our many accounts over the years and cancel it. Michael and Natalie traveled the 80+ miles to visit us here too. It's always nice to see them.