4/11/11  Savannah is of course steeped in civil war history and is a deep water seaport.  There are beautiful old buildings framed with cobblestone streets.  We wanted to spend some time there so we arrived at the Savannah City Dock about noon expecting to spend the night.  To check in and pay for dockage we had to walk several blocks to the city offices.  They have a lengthy registration form which we filled out but when we were ready to pay, the clerk discovered that the docks had been reserved for a couple of ships that would arrive later and that we must vacate.  That left us in somewhat of a bind because there weren't any available places to tie up and the next available anchorage was some distance away. We decided maybe we had seen enough of old Savannah and shoved off to find a place to stay for the night.  On the way out, we spotted an eight foot alligator swimming across the Savannah river which of course may answer the age-old question " Why did the alligator cross the river?".

4/7/11 - 4/10/11   The Georgia "lowlands" is miles of almost treeless islands and waterways covered with two foot tall grass.  It would be easy to lose ones way if it weren't for the gps and navigational markers and buoys.  After a couple of nights anchored out we reach Savannah.  Steve and Beth Wingate who live in a suburb have offered to let us stay at the dock behind there home. They had only two days before started their own loop leaving the dock unoccupied.  This was much appreciated because income tax was due in about a week and the necessary paperwork had only recently caught up to us by forwarded mail.  Between Turbo Tax and the Wingate's wifi I got it finished in time.

4/4/11 - 4/6/11  We bid Jacksonville adieu and went to Fernandina Beach Marina.  We walked through the historical district, found some groceries and a fish market.  We are beginning to see the architecture of the civil war era.  There are even some structures left from the 1700's.  It seems that fire was the end of most buildings back then either by accident or intention. It was fortunate that we decided to stay another night because a storm brewed up in the night and made it uncomfortable sleeping at the dock.   It may have been worse at anchor.  We left Fernandina Beach and crossed over into Georgia.  We passed by Jekyll Island which was owned by world's richest families in the 1800's.  The tides are up to a nine foot range here which is a whole new ball game.  Along with tides come the strong currents which make anchoring a real challenge.

3/25/11 - 4/3/11  We needed to "haul out" the boat to change the "zincs" (corrosion prevention) and possibly bottom paint (marine growth prevention ie. barnacles) so we went up the St. Johns river to Sadler Point Marina near Jacksonville. Everything went well - the bottom paint only needed touching up and the zincs were no problem.  Still, all of this took a few days so we slept on the boat while it was out of the water entering and exiting via the ladder at the stern. We had a few other mechanical issues including a fairly severe fuel leak on the port injector pump, an engine that wouldn't start intermittently and an alternator that quit.  Under normal circumstances these problems would not have taken very long but the lack of ground transportation complicates everything.  I borrowed a car for the trip to the injector shop, took a taxi ride to the alternator shop and found out that seniors ride Jacksonville buses for free. Once you get a grasp of the bus routes everything gets easier.  Only one problem remained.  The aft head was acting up so I took it apart and found a half dollar size rubber valve was in need of cleaning.  I took it out on the dock and with a water hose nozzle in one hand and the valve in the other I was going to spray it clean.  The only problem was that the blast was more than expected and valve went flying into the St. Johns river forevermore in the company of fishes.  We were now down to one head (head = marine toilet) in the forward cabin.  The replacement valve was not available locally so, not wanting to wait for one to be shipped in, we were north bound again.

3/22/11 - 3/24/11  We had a delay leaving St. Augustine because the first draw bridge was on a schedule and couldn't open for almost an hour.  I think we could have made it under without an opening but it was too close to take a chance.  The draw bridges here have a tide gauge on the approach.  The lower the tide the more vertical clearance.  Then comes the iffy part.  The tide gauge supposedly shows the lowest structure in the opening under the bridge but the opening is an arch so there is suppose to be another 4 feet of clearance in the center.  If you know exactly how much clearance your boat needs and if you can stay exactly in the center when you go under you can cut it pretty close otherwise you risk a crew cut.  One night anchorage in Pablo Creek and we tied up at Jacksonville Landing.  This is a free tie up near 10 assorted stores and restaurants.  It is very exposed to wind and waves and was choppy and noisy well into the night.  About the only real benefit was being able to tap into the Hooters WiFi.  We did take the trolley into town and were able to get some groceries and Lace had her hair cut.  Jim and Gloria were docked nearby with their daughter and BooBoo the Pomeranian.  They are also "loopers" but they started in Minnesota. The next night we spent the night at a much quieter dock, again owned by the city.

3/18/11 - 3/21/11  Three anchor nights in a row starting at Mosquito Lagoon (Ominous name but saw no namesakes), Daytona Beach (We anchored close to shore and were serenaded by spring breakers until 2AM), and Matanzas River (Quieter and sleeping better after adding 20 feet of chain to the anchor line).  We arrived at St. Augustine Marina ready for long showers and a restaurant meal.  St. Augustine is an historical town and the architecture is interesting.  Almost more tourist trolleys than cars.  It's also a nice marina although it hangs out in the Intercoastal Waterway and so is exposed to fast tidal currents.

3/12/11  - 3/17/11  At one point we were going to put the cats in a kennel and stay at a hotel in Disney World but after some investigation of kennel rates and hotel rates we decided to stay on the boat and commute to Orlando which is about an hour one way.  The first day we went to Disney Epcot.  It was very entertaining after the initial sticker shock at the front gate.  $14 to park and $82 a head general admission.  "Oh well, it's a once in a life time" we uttered.  Disney World is what you might imagine: 3D movies, moving dinosaurs, 7-foot-tall cartoon characters, impeccably landscaped and everything is squeaky clean.  A single piece of pop corn will not remain on the ground more than a few minutes before a guy comes along to sweep it up. Also Epcot is geared a little more toward the adult crowd.  We both enjoyed it but 8 hours on our feet made us decide to take the next day off and catch up with the laundry.   Disney Hollywood was the next venue we tried.  It's a little more youth oriented with stunt shows and live stage entertainment.  We lucked out and acquired a couple of "Fast Passes" for the "Rock'n Roller Coaster with Aerosmith" ride.  That means we didn't have to stand in line and were able to come back several hours later and walk past a mass of people waiting to get on it.  The sign said the waiting time was over two hours.  The ride was thrilling (zero to sixty in three seconds), great visual effects, and the usual zig zags but it only lasted a little over a minute.  Lace missed the visuals because she had her eyes closed.  We enjoyed Hollywood too but not as much as Epcot so we decided that was enough Disney World.  The next day we had a very pleasant boat ride/lunch with Terry and Janice Peek.  Terry was a high school classmate of  Lace's in Fullerton, California and the afternoon was filled with nostalgia.  One more day to catch up on groceries and house chores and we're off again.

3/9/11 - 3/11/11  On the road again headed north.  It was getting rough and the weather report said a line of weather was coming in so we anchored for the night in the lee of a very small island covered with birds (we saw our first flock of ibis').  Bad idea!  During the night the wind changed 180 degrees and pulled the anchor out.  We were very close to drifting hard aground but were saved by a mysterious figure in his underwear pulling in the anchor and running to a new location.  In the morning the weather was still iffy so we ran 8 miles to another anchorage near a bridge.  We laid down for a nap and the same thing happened again except in daylight!  I vowed never to go to sleep again without setting the GPS anchor alarm.  The next day we docked at Harbortown Marina which would be our home base for the excursion to Disney World.  Right at dusk that evening there was a launch of a Delta IV rocket from Cape Canaveral. We were only a few miles away.  Pretty awesome. Odometer now 1501 miles.

3/1/11  We left Fort Myers at the same time as new friends Steve and Marty.  We were on the Caloosahatchee River for about 55 miles.  It's a lovely quiet area.  We went through the Franklin Lock and the Ortona Lock.  We passed more fragrant orange groves and jasmine.  We passed more beautiful estates and one property had cattle and a camel.  We docked at Moore Haven City Dock.
3/2/11   The town is little with a cafe and a library.  We walked the whole square mile that was "town".
3/3-3/4  Dick took pictures of the tiny restaurant that had hurricane damage.  In the corner of the cafe about six men met daily under a sign that said "Liars Corner" and that group included the sheriff. We went to the best rodeo ever.  We were close enough to have dust in our faces.  We went with cruising friends Nancy and Barry, and Elizabeth and Shay.  We had quite a surprise to have Terry and Lauren knock on our door.  This time they were in a truck and they checked the marina to see if we were there.
3/5/11 A very nice parade came past our boat.  Marching bands.  Nice floats.  They were celebrating the spawning of the bass.  We left Moore Haven at 12:30 after 5 days waiting for the wind to settle down.  We went through the MooreHaven Lock.  Then for the next 10 miles the grass was tall and we saw 4 alligators, beautiful water birds, osprey, herons, and egret.  We tied between two 20' dolphins (a swimming mammal and a bundle of 7 vertical pilings).  It took 30 min to tie securely.
3/6/11  At 6:45 AM we left to cross Lake Okeechobee.  We went through the Port Mayorca Lock.  Went past 2 Bald Eagles.  We got into some smoke from the large wild fires that Florida is having.  We even had a little ash on board.  We were in it for about an hour.  We went through the St Lucie Lock.  It only opens at 1 & 3 - we arrived at 2 so tied to a dolphin for an hour.  The locked dropped us 12' down.  We anchored in the exact spot we were in on Jan. 5, 2010 South Fork of the St Lucie River.
3/7/11 Elizabeth and Shay were at the same anchorage with us and they dingied over for a visit.  Steve and Marty have a home here and they picked us up and took us grocery shopping and out to lunch.  We were in Stuart Florida.
3/8/11 We had a beautiful travel day to Ft Pierce.  The water is aqua again.  The dolphins were with us and at the marina where we stayed several Manatees were playing.  They don't take a good picture - mostly look like giant logs, but we were very close and enjoyed them.

2/23/11 - 2/28/11  Fort Myers is a pleasant town and we had friends here so we decided to stay a week.  Besides Lace's high school buddies, we came across a looper couple that we met at one of the AGLCA rendezvous'.  Terry and Lauren from League City, TX were on their sailing catamaran and had been in Ft. Myers nearly a month.  These restless souls have put on so many miles sailing and motoring in their RV, they make us look like couch potatoes. They have stories that range from the Arctic Circle to Key West.  Lace's girl friends took us out to their favorite restaurant on Captiva Island, bought us lunch and then to the grocery for supplies. Legacy Marina happened to be treating their tenants to a catered supper and dance with a live band so we were invited. A good time was had by all. We walked to the winter estates of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford. I particularly liked Mr. Edisons laboratory (Lace observing in the picture). We attended church at the Thomas Edison Christian Church which was a surprise. The pastor's singing voice should have been on Broadway. We had one more great meal with the Barbs at Outback Steakhouse and the last day was taken up by a much needed oil change on the engines and assorted maintenance.