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.

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.

PORT MAYACA, FL

17 to 19 January, 2005. We tied up to the dolphins (large pilings) here for three days. They are just before the Port Mayaca lock that leads into Lake Okeechobee. Apparently, the lake can get pretty mean, pretty quick since it is so shallow so we were waiting out the waves. At one point, we put the 6 HP engine on the dinghy and took it back to Indiantown Marina that we had passed on the way. We needed smokes. We din't realize that it was 10 miles behind us so when we arrived after 2 hours, it was already getting dark and we were quite cold. We stopped at a small inlet just before arriving at the marina that had some very nicely formed whelk (I think) shells. It was hard for me not to collect them for either my mom, Gail or our friend Mary in Colorado. The tiny inlet is on the north side, just west of Indiantown Marina if any of our fellow boaters are interested. When we got to the marina, they welcomed us into the clubhouse and made us coffee. One of the men even gave me 2 beers. He ended up driving us into town so we could do some shopping. We decided that bthe trip back would be grueling in the cold and dark so we threw $70 we couldn't afford at a hotel room. We dinghyed back the following morning. We finally received an agreeable report on Lake Okeechobee waters and headed into the lock.

ST. LUCIE LOCK AND DAM, ST. LUCIE, FL

St Lucie Lock's resident alligator

St. Lucie Lock Recreation Area

Resident alligator

Resident alligator again

Rare flying animal, St. Lucie Lock area

The Buccaneer below the pavillion and fire pit

The Buc in its slip

The Buc again

Roxanne as Popeye

The Buc inches from the rocks

Roxanne being dinghy

The Buc AGAIN

Some sunk boat nearby

Johnny B making hamburgers

Roxanne jamming out

Michael being stoic

Michael still being stoic

2 to 16 January, 2005. Once again, our Golden Access Pass comes into play. As far as we know, this is the only Army Corps of Enginners Boat-In campground on the entire east coast. We got half price with the Pass ($8 / day) and stayed for the limit of 14 days. This place is immediately after the lock, with 8 docks. We met several people here, including Richard, we helped us dock. His catamaran was docked next to us for most of the time we spent here. I began to wonder just how much standing room he could have in his boat since the center of a catamaran is so far above the waterline. When he left, a very unpleasant man and his wife took the spot. This man treated his wife like dirt. Rocky and I were both on the verge of speaking up on several occasions. One day, his wife was in the dinghy, scrubbing the tow line and he told her to pull the plug to drain the water out. She informed him that water would come in if she did that but he insisted so she pulled the plug. When the water started coming in, he snottishly commented, "well, what do you want me to do about it?" I did hear her tell him one day that she felt sorry for him for being such a miserable man. It was nice to know that she wasn't completely beaten down. It was a great day when they left.On the other side of us was George. He was very cool but we didn't see him much- usually just when he came and went to shower. Another guy named Rich was on a double-masted sailboat that he never sails. He was a nice enough guy but very negative and basically unhappy. He came to build fires at the common fire pit in front of the docks.

There was also 2 young couples who were also on a 27 foot sailboat. I really only met Jeffrey from that group. I couldn't imagine 4 people on a boat this size. They would sail around the small body of water there to pass the days while waiting for engine parts. One night, after sitting around the fire with Rich, Jeffrey and I walked the 2 miles to the convenience store for a 12 pack of beer. Jeffrey had a small bottle of 140 proof liquor with him that he sippped on during the walk. When we got rung up at the convenience store, Jeffrey offered the cashier $5 instead of the $5.89 (or whatever) that the beer actually cost. She didn't appreciate it much. After taking the beer behind the counter, she told us to leave before she called security. I tried to apologize for Jeffrey but she wouldn't listen. When I stepped outside, Jeffrey had slammed the rest of the liquor and threw the bottle behind him. Not good. He was already too drunk before that. I managed to apologize to the cashier and she finally sold me the beer.

On the way back, Jeffrey got a little wild. At one point, he grabbed the open 12 pack and began running through people's yards. When he returned, the 12 pack was three beers short- he had dropped them somewhere. From there, I had to hold him up while we walked back. Suddenly, he just took off running ahead. I tried to find him all the way back to the campground with no luck. I went back up the road to search for him and found him laying in the grass just as a cop rolled up. His face was covered in blood and there was a puddle of blood on the sidewalk nearby. The cop was totally cool. He called the paramedics and they took Jeffrey to the hospital. I informed his boat mates and they got himk back to their boat either that night or the following day. He didn't have a cuncussion or anything but some pretty nasty scars are sure to persist. Rocky and gave them some aspirin, acetominophen, ibuprofen, naproxen and some bandages. There is an alligator that hangs out on the other side of the dam and I got a few pictures. It's about 7 to 8 feet long. Michael, Natalie and Roxanne came out for a few visits and we took the boat a few miles west for the fun of it. They enjoyed the trip, as did we. It was nice to stop somewhere for 2 weeks.

Jan. 12 to Feb. 1, 2006. Rocky and I got right to work on the boat after my vacation. Our friend, Houseboat Joe, spent nearly two weeks with us doing fiberglass work among other things. Joe finally got his Social Security Disability benefits approved after years of getting the runaround. It's great to see him so much happier with the huge weight of getting jerked around by local and federal agencies finally lifted from his shoulders.

When I first got back to Cortez, FL, Rocky, Michael, Jason and I took a road trip to Pensacola, FL, 7 hours away, to pick up a 40 HP diesel engine for our boat. The seller had limited information regarding the engine's dimensions so we took a chance and went to pick it up. It turned out to be too big to fit our boat so we resold it on ebay. We've got another engine that we know will fit being delivered here on Friday, Feb. 3. We were hoping to get our boat out of the yard and into the water by the first of the month to avoid the skyrocketing rates here at the marina since they officially opened the boat yard. We had our boat delivered here from Ft. Pierce on the Atlantic coast several months before the yard officially opened for business. The dry storage rates (having a boat in the yard) are increasing monthly from $12/foot/month to $15 to $20 to $25 by March 1 so it's definitely time to get in the water.

We'll be securing our mast on the deck and then get towed back to Davis Island Yacht Basin where we spent last summer. There, we can get all of our rigging in order before raising our mast by way of leverage between two other boats while we're at achor there. That should be interesting. We have many friends at Davis Island and although we can't wait to head down to Central America, it'll be nice to spend some more time with them.

FABER COVE, FT. PIERCE, FL

29 December to 1 January, 2004. We made it! This was our primary goal before spending a couple of weeks in St. Lucie, FL at the Army Corps of Engineers boat-in campground for $8 / night. Our friends Michael and Natalie live in Ft. Pierce with their daughter, Roxanne. Rocky grew up with them in Southern Illinois. We made 70 miles in one day to get here and pulled into the anchorage after dark, about 6 pm. We promptly dinghyed to shore and walked the 3 blocks to their place. They hadn't heard from us in 4 days and were quite surprised to see us. They expected we would be another day or two. They live on Hutchinson Island which was ground zero for both hurricanes (Frances and Jeanne, I think). We saw lots of damaged boats and property on the way here. Michael and Natalie live next door to a bar called Archie's which has been there for 50 years. It was pretty much destroyed by the hurricanes but they will be re-opening on February 14. Patty, the owner of Archie's got a one-day permit to have a New Year's Eve party in the parking lot with a live band. It was lots of fun. It was becoming a hassle to dinghy back to the boat everytime we needed something so we paid $15 for a slip at the apartment complex docks. I always enjoyed hanging out at Porpoise Beach across the street. The walkway that leads down to the beach is now level with the sand. The hurricanes threw mountains of sand onto the land. They're still digging out from the aftermath. A lot of people lost their rooves from the hurricanes. It's always nice to spend time with Michael and Natalie but we need to move on to Stuart.

COCOA BEACH, FL

28 December, 2004. I finally got to see some dolphins riding the bow on the way here. There was supposed to be a free dock here but it looks like either the hurricanes took it out or they turned it into the boardwalk that wraps around the anchorage So we anchored and dinghyed to shore. When we visited my parents back in June, My mother was showing us some of her antiques and jewelry. She dangled a broken gold bracelt in front of us and asked if either of us wanted some gold. Of course we did so we politely accepted. I had been carrying the bracelet around in my pocker for a few weeks and when we were ashore at Cocoa, I went into a jewelry store to sell. I got $70. Rocky and I promptly went and got chicken wings and a few amber bock beers. I ordered a chicken cordon bleu and Rocky had the Mahi sandwich. We were sick of eating out of cans and needed some real food. We had been playing leap frog with another sailboat on the way here and they were eating at the restaurant too. Their boat was fairly small but they told us that its previous owner had sailed around the world in it. People keep telling us that people have sailed around the world in boats a lot smaller than ours. Although we always knew that was true, we also knew that those people must have been crazy. Even the ICW is full of perilous waterways.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, FL

Johnny B, between St. Augustine and new Smyrna Beach

A factory producing fresh air

Johnny B, between St. Augustine and new Smyrna Beach

27 December, 2004. We had great speed nearly all day (up to 9 mph at times which is awesome for any sailboat) and made 67 miles today. We could've gotten even further south but there was no good place to anchor 6 to 8 miles south of New Smyrna Beach. This put us within about 120 miles of Ft. Pierce, our primary goal. It is just possible that we could make Ft. Pierce in 2 days. I really want to spend New Years eve with Michael and Natalie there. Anyway, there were shoals everywhere here so we anchored just outside the channel at about 4 pm. We watched a few episodes of The Simpsons and King of the Hill and went to bed early (as usual) so we could get an early start the next day. We are getting hungry for long mileage days now that Ft. Pierce is within our reach. We started out about 7 am. after coffee, fought the shoals and finally got into the channel about 7:20, just after sunrise. We saw dolphins right away. Several times, Rocky has been climbing onto the bow and seeing the dolphins riding right alongside us while I'm driving so we decided that the next time we see dolphins in front of us, he'll take the tiller and I'll get on the bow so I can finally see them riding in our wake. We saw some in front of us, I climbed onto the bow and wouldn't you know it, they rode our wake aft, right next to Rocky at the tiller. Oh well, dolphins are everywhere so hopefully I'll get a chance one of these days. We should get past the Kennedy Space Center today- our goal is Cocoa Beach.