CORTEZ BRIDGE ANCHORAGE, ANNA MARIA ISLAND, FL

10 to 14 February, 2005. There were a lot of derelict boats anchored here. There is a dinghy dock next to the Anna Maria Pier and lots of cool stuff on Anna Maria Island. The island beaches here are beautiful with lots of beautiful bodies to look at. There was a convenience store, several good restaurants, even a grocery store and post office on the island. I highly recommend Anna Maria Island to anyone traveling through the area. The main beaches even have concession stands. The water was finally getting warm and we got our first taste of salt water in several years while swimming here.

FREE DOCK, VENICE, FL

9 February, 2005. The free dock here is right next to the Venice Yacht Club. There's supposed to be room for 4-5 boats but this huge yacht (that in my opinion, could've afforded to be in a slip at the Yacht Club) took up nearly the entire dock. There was just enough room for us to get in. The Game Warden who patrols the area to insure that the 72 hour limit on free dockage is enforced, asked us about the registration for our boat which we easily produced. We purposely didn't put the stickers on our hull because we knew, by law, that it wasn't required. He recommended that we put the stickers on the hull so we did. He claimed that he was doing us a favor by not writing us a ticket but we were fully aware of the law in this regard and it simply wasn't required. After cutting through all the BS, we came to like him. I even sent him a Civil War CD a few days later because he was a Civil War buff. There were a lot of snooty people in condos there but we enjoyed our stay.

CAPTIVA ISLAND, FL

8 February, 2005. This was a nice anchorage. I must admit that I'm finally catching up on this blog and simply don't remember anything in particular about this anchorage. I do remember that we saw lots of dolphins here but we've been seeing dolphins everywhere. There are so many nice anchorages on the Gulf Coast. The Atlantic coast doesn't even come close to the beauty and the beaches of the Gulf Coast.

FRANKLIN LOCK AND DAM, ALVA, FL

Johnny B just waking up

Rocky

Rocky

Rocky on the phone

Rocky

6 to 7 February, 2005. It was nice to get to the other Army Corps of Engineers campground for $8 / day with electricity and showers. The nearest convenience store was about 5 miles away but one of the RV campers there let me use his bike to ride there. We didn't do a whole lot here. Mostly just took the time to relax. I did have an old friend stop by and we had a great time.

FREE DOCK, LABELLE, FL

4 to 5 February, 2005. Another free dock with electricity. Docking here is done Meditteranean Style (either bow or stern straight in- and no finger dock or anything to step off the side of the boat. You drop your anchor to keep from swinging too much. We docked stern in and found that our outboard was getting slammed up underneath the dock whenever a wake would come through- so we pulled forward. It was very difficult to jump from the boat to the dock and vice versa. There was a post office here so we were able to get out a few orders. There was also a U-Save grocery store a few blocks away but we were stocked up so didn't need it. There was also a laundromat a few blocks away with a bar inside. I got laundry done and the foreman for Florida Aluminum and Steel bought rounds of pitchers so I was able to have a few beers for free while doing laundry.

The bridge just before the dock here opens on request (like most bridges) and apparently we got lucky getting the bridge tenders attention. A guy who knocked on our boat had a Bayliner Buccaneer like ours and we talked for awhile. He said that he once had to actually climb up the ladder to get the bridge tenders attention after trying his radio, his cell phone and using his horn. The bridge tender had the TV up so loud that he didn't hear this guy. Then, another guy in a sailboat who docked next to us here said that after numerous attempts to contact the bridge, he actually called 911 because he thought something might have happened to the bridge tender. The 911 operator was able to contact the bridge tender and let the guy through. I think this bridge tender needs a new job.

CITY DOCK, MOORE HAVEN, FL

Moore Haven Lock

Moore Haven Lock

Lake Okeechobee, Rim Route

Lake Okeechobee, Rim Route

Johnny B, Lake Okeechobee, Rim Route

Johnny B, Lake Okeechobee, Rim Route

Lake Okeechobee, Rim Route

Lake Okeechobee, Rim Route

Burning downed trees from the season's hurricanes

1 to 3 February, 2005. Well, we're out of Lake Okeechobee. We stayed 3 night here but only had to pay for one at 75 cents per foot. This place has a great grocery store nearby (B & B Grocery) with lots of great deals. We bought a lot of food here, including a package containing several cloves of garlic and several jalapeno peppers for 33 cents. They have carts of damaged cans for pennies on the dollar too. We also found a Goodwill store and bought a Presto WeeFry Skillet for $2.99 and a Dustbuster for $2.99. The skillet is great because we don't have to use up our propane to cook when we have electricity. We can even heat up the coffee pot on it.

We met Lance, a homeless guy whose mother's property was confiscated by the government for some dumb reason. Very nice guy. He was staying at the video store owned by his friend who was currently out of the country. The front window was smashed out and apparently he had to contend with rats in there. Even though he was down on his luck, he bought some ribs and chips to cook up for us on one of the grills at the dock. He even bought the beer! It was fun to grill and drink beer all day for a change. We were issued a key for the shower here and we let him use it. The night before we left, the water pump on the dock sprung a leak and gushed water over the dock for an hour or so until someone came to turn it off. We had read about a 90 year old woman who had bought the bank building here and had a trimaran (triple-hulled sailboat- possibly for sale). I went into the "Anne Tiques" store that she owned but she was in Texas. Apparently, her husband owned the boat and didn't want to sell it.