Sun. 2/11/07 left Joliet with Lou and Ginny

Mon Great ride. Signs of Spring south of Louisville Ky.

Arrived Mobile 4Pm. Prep'd boat, waited for charts from Marine Navigation

Fri. 2/16 Turner Marina to Fairhope Still needed to bleed fuel line, intermittent problem. Met Bayfield 25 owner, attended Mardi Gras parade, used Marina car.

Sun 2/18 Eastern Shore marina to Ingrahm Bay anchorage. Good sail in Mobile bay. Senic anchorage on ICW

Mon 2/19 Ingrahm bay to Ft. Walton Beach Marina $90/night but office closed when arrived and departed early AM Porpoises seem to wait at channel entrances to greet boats.

Tue 2/20 to Panama City, grounded approaching P.C. at dusk; towed off by Boat US. need to increase Ins. coverage since tow costs $10/ foot Great marina, right downtown. Interesting boaters at marina. Could view ourselves on live webcam

Fri 2/23 PC municipal marina to Scipio Creek Marina, Apalachicola Very senic town, good seafood in town, but Pappa Joe's mediocre

Sun 2/25 Apalachicola to Carrabelle Thousands of crab pots en route. Eventually ignored them. Development boom underway

Tues 2/27 Carrabelle to St. Marks Lots of history, from Spanish fort to Natural Bridge C.W. battlefield. Marina owner and mayor lent us Tahoe, drove to Tallahassee and Waculla Springs S.Pk, a 4star attraction. Bought Stone Crab claws off boat

Sat 3/2 St. Marks to Steinhatchee New bleeder plug. Waited a day for Gulf to calm down

Tue 3/6 Steinhatchee to Cedar Key Anchorage

Wed 3/7 to Crystal River, Pete's Pier. Swam with Manatees. Great Chineese Restaurant

Fri 3/9 Crystal River to Dunedin Municipal Marina Pleasant town, met J's friend, Narda Enander

Sun 3/11 Dunedin to Golden Gate Bay anchorage, Sarasota. Armored fuel line from engine lift pump to injector pump split, sprayed a gallon+ of diesel in engine compartment, patched with hose clamps and rigger's tape since has banjo terminations

Mon 3/12 Anchorage to Royal Palm Marina, Englewood. Borrowed Live-aboard's car

Tue 3/13 Englewood to Burnt Store Marina, Charlotte Bay. Very nice marina, 3000 acre complex. Rented car, visited Punta Gorda, Sanibel Is., Fort Meyers. Finally solved fuel problem, Racor filter manual priming pump leaking air.Verified by replacing fuel line with clear tubing and watching for bubbles. Bypassed Racor and elec lift pump for rest of trip

Fri 3/16 Burnt Store to Tarpon Bay Anchorage, Sanibel Is. Traveled through thunderstorm. Wind came up after anchoring. 4ft waves and 20+kts all night. Danforth did a good job

Sat 3/17 Sanibel Anchorage to Anchorage, Denaud . Calossahatchee river very senic. Alligator swam past boat while waiting for lock to open

Sun 3/18 Denaud to Clewiston Marina, Lake Okachobee. Lake a surreal landscape with dead trees, burning cane fields. Encounted N.Z. couple that had helped me when anchor fouled at Bayou Cannot last Fall, they were headed E,back to Canada

Mon 3/19 Clewiston to Anchorage Mile 20, St. Lucie River. Noticed exhaust was steam, raw water intake filter was clogged Talked to manatee counters while tied up in lock. Manatees lock through sometimes. Fouled anchor in big sunken truck tire at first lock. Fouled anchor in huge sunken barge fender at second lock, lifed fender along with anchor and didn't clear until locked through. Trash in waterway from hurricane?

Tue 3/20 Anchorage to Ft. Pierce Marina. St Lucie River senic with orange groves, cattle. Encountered Swedish National Rowing team practicing on river. Onto Atlantic intracostal at Stuart Brisk E. breeze on coast. While I was talking on radio to dock hand and looking for Marina entrance, current and wind set me against a channel buoy. The Ibeam cut alum. rub rail and split out a chunk of teak, but hull OK. City marina right at senic downtown. Walked across bridge to Aquarium and city museum. Visited art museum, bought used books at public library.

Thurs 3/22 Ft. Pierce Marina to Riverside Marina. Waited a day for E. wind to diminish, then moved boat 1mi.N to Riverside, a DIY boatyard. Manatees along slip. Interesting boaters and live-aboards. Preped boat for haul out. Found head of 3/8 bolt in bilge- had to drill stump for EZout on an engine mount Rented Car. J went to Indian Pow-Wow. We spent day visiting state Treasure Museum, Ft. Pierce botannic garden. Spent last night on boat in travel-lift.

Sun 3/25 Rented one-way car. Left Ft.Pierce at Noon. Visited mineral museum NW of Atlanta. Stopped for night in Tenn. Redbuds out in Mts. of Tenn and Ky. Returned to Chicago Mon PM

J's pictures are at http://picasaweb.google.com/ccanavino
Planning to drive to Ft. Pierce Sat 5/12. Intend to get to Chesapeake by middle of June and drive back to Chi. for son Mike's wedding.