We motored across the bay as the 10 - 15 knot wind was dead on our bow and we had miles to make to get to Pensacola before dusk.

Crossing the shipping channel was like crossing Hwy 41! We had four ships, fishing vessels, and a half dozen tows to contend with. We waited for a gap and charged across.

We intercepted the Inter-coastal Waterway at bottom of the bay and headed east. Soon we were in a man made waterway headed east; sheltered from the waves the SE winds were creating. The shore was lined with condos and homes ranging from handyman's specials to big buck castles. With the mast up, bridges made for a few tense moments though we had been assured we'd clear with 8 foot to spare.

As we neared Pensacola the devastation of the hurricane Ivan was apparent even after 5 months! Beaches had been removed and new ones created - sometimes right over docks and boathouses. Naked pilings stood as testaments to the one time existence of homes. Shorelines were littered with 2 x 4's and timbers. Boats ranging from 18' powerboats to 40' sail  were pushed up on pilings or shore. A towboat had been pushed into a woods. Blue plastic tarps were a popular roofing material.

We anchored for the night in white sand at Big Lagoon, just west of Pensacola. The storm didn't materialize.

1/13/04- The winds still had not made the forecasted switch to the north. We could see breakers over the dune south of our anchorage and decided to wait a day as the storm had slowed. It was a windy, gray, warm day - the temperature was in the 70's.

Late that afternoon all "H" broke loose. A tornado warning was issued, we could see and hear thunderstorms north of us. The front was on the move again. Suddenly the 15 - 20 knot winds we had from the south switched to 20 - 30 from the northwest with gusts to 45 knots as the temperature fell 20 degrees. AA snapped around to face the new wind with such speed I thought we'd dislodge the anchor. Now we were on the lee shore with the dune only 200 meters behind us. I started the engine just in case we started dragging. The rain, driven by the wind, was so dense we couldn't see shore at times. We depended on our chart plotter to verify that we were holding our position. After 2 hours the storm settled down to 20 - 25 knot winds and rain, that seemed like nothing after the initial blast.

1/14/05- We've elected to stay on anchor another day. The wind is from the north at 23 - 27 knots and our next leg to St Joe's is 105 miles on the Gulf. The forecast is for warmer (it's high 40's right now) and 10 - 15 knot northern winds for tomorrow - sounds like a nicer day to make the jump.

1/15/05- Another early departure, headed for St. Joe's, FL. The weather is clear and in the 50's. This will be a long leg - 105 miles. With the wind at 15 - 25 knots we should make good time.

At midnight we dropped our anchor in St Joe's bay. It took us two hours to enter the harbor - it was a long trek at 5 knots, feeling our way into a new to us anchorage. The trip as rough, 6 - 7' seas and a close reach. AA performed beautifully!

1/16/05- We slept in and took a down day, reading and enjoying the sun while waiting for the seas to settle. The bay was well protected and large - maybe half the size of Lake Winnebago. A white sand spit wrapped most of the seaward side creating a natural breakwater.

1/17/05- About noon we headed for Clearwater, leaving at a later hour to ensure that we'd arrive the following day in sunlight. The sun was out, wind about 8 knots from the east leaving only swells on the Gulf. As we sailed south the half moon rose and so did the winds - 20 - 25 knots. Soon we were double reefed with a 70% jib while reaching thru 5 - 6' seas at 8 knots over the ground! It was beautiful! The moon turned the spray to silver as we drove through the waves. Occasionally a train of 10' seas would push us sideways and bury the boat in spray. The adrenaline rush kept me awake most of the 25 hour crossing. (We stood shifts but found it hard to sleep while airborne). 

We arrived in Clearwater at 1 pm after logging the 208 mile crossing, joining the ICW in search of a marina. BoatUS listed Clearwater Bay Marina. A phone call confirmed they had space and we were docked by 3 pm. Surprise! This is the same group that owns the Pioneer at Oshkosh! The Clearwater site is also targeted for a condo development.

1/18 to 1/21/05- Ruth called her childhood best friend at Tampa to say hello. Orell joined us that afternoon, spending the night onboard. She took us to her Tampa loft the next day for an afternoon of waterfront exploration. The aquarium was a real treat! Tampa and Clearwater are pretty cities - very liveable. We spent the night at the loft, staying up way too late as Ruth, Orell and Patty reminisced and caught up with each other.

We caught the noon bridge, stopping at Clearwater Municipal Marina for diesel. There we ran into Wind Child, friends Andy and Marilyn from the river trip and Turner's. By 2pm we were headed south on the Gulf with a light breeze dead on the nose. Smooth seas, light balmy air and sunshine - it doesn't get much better. We powered to the North Channel at the southern edge of St Pete's where we anchored for the night. A pair of dolphins guided us into the mouth of the channel. Got to watch the bottom here, it can come up and bite you real fast! Moving slowly we bumped twice in the anchorage - 14' to 2' in a boat length!

1/22/05- We departed St Pete's in warm air with a light breeze from the south. Our dolphin escort from the evening before joined us as we motored out of the channel. We wanted to be further south when the forecast cold front swept down the state. We motored offshore until we reached Venice, then rejoined the ICW continuing south to Englewood on Lemon Bay. We found a small inlet, a channel back to a couple of marinas, where we anchored of a mangrove island for the night. We were serenaded by white ibis as dusk fell. During the night the winds built to 18-20 knots but we we secure in our small anchorage.

1/23/05- We took a down-day to wait while a cold front pushed south. It was sunny and 65 in the morning, dropping during the day into the 50's. Pelicans and black hawks flew overhead as we read and relaxed. I did an inspection of the boat and rig, finding some wear on the mainsail cover that I need to repair as soon as I can pull it off in a marina. Our current challenge is that of finding info on a charted bridge with no clearance documentation on any of our 4 relevant chart sources. If it isn't 54' high or opening we'll have to retrace 24 miles of waterway to go around it.

1/24/05- The weather dictated that we stay put at our anchorage in Englewood. Talk about hardship! Warm day, clear sky, lots of birds and dolphins... and all that white stuff - sand. The wind chill? 30's at night. 60's in the day. Darn hard to take!

1/25/05- Tuesday, time to boogie down to Ft. Myer's Beach to see Jeff and Paula; a little late, we planned on being here Christmas. Another (sorry) beautiful day. The bridge turned out to be an abandoned RR bridge that had it's center span removed - no problem. Had to motor though as half the trip was on the ICW then around Captiva and Sanibel Islands. Saw more dolphins than we've ever seen - over two dozen today. At one point we had 3 on one side and one on the other, escorting us, staying by the helm so they could keep and eye on us. Waaaay cool! The hurricane Charlie damage on Captiva is wild. The storm actually cut North Captiva Island in half - now they're trying to figure out how to rename the islands. North North and South North Captiva?

We're at Moss Marine tonight, $90, so we probably will move on to an anchorage tomorrow in the Matanzas Pass.

1/26/05- Left the boat for the night at Moss and joined Jeff and Paula at their Ft Myers Beach home. Got a ride in Jeff's newest toy - a bright red Viper. Man that car can do nasty things to you neck! It takes off like a scalded cat!

1/27/05- We moved to the mooring field - at $10/night including pump-outs its worth it. There are small anchorages where transients are staying, but with pump-outs at $20 and the distance from town we decided to splurge. The weather here is excellent. Its typically sunny with lows in the mid to upper 50's and the highs in the mid 70's. We've decided to hang around here for a week before moving on south. We occasionally join up with Jeff and Paula, but try not to impose as they have a non-stop stream of guests going through their place. Mainly we're reading, exploring hurricane wrecks by dinghy, walking the town and doing boat maintenance.

2/1/05- Drove to Naples. The millionaires are being driven out of town by the billionaires. Cool place to visit, lunched on the Riverwalk at Tin City, a quaint set of shops. The homes are unreal, start at about 1 million for a lot NOT on the water... then put another 1-2 mil in the house. Ouch! A friend showed us a spec house he'd built and had just sold - very nice.

We are waiting for our EPRIB to find us, then we'll push off for Key West. Probably will jump Naples having been there by car.

2/9/05- EPRIB arrived but we've not moved from Ft Myers Beach. It's a nice place to hang out! The supermarket is a 3 minute dinghy ride, the TrolLee's run the full length of the island for a quarter, and our rum source is next to the supermarket. This is the most convenient anchorage we've encountered on the trip to date.

We met another Canadian couple, John & Cheryl, retired and cruising on their 32' PDQ catamaran. Very enjoyable people, we spent a couple of evenings on their boat listing to their tales of the river system and their sail from California to Hawaii on the Lost Soul with Bob & Jody Bitchin , publishers of "Lats & Atts". Now we know all of Bob's secrets!

2/13/05- We moved back to Moss Marine to wash the deck, do the wash and take on 105 gallons of water. Next stop, Naples (millionaire friends advised us that there is still room there for mere millionaires).

2/14/05- A light south wind and mid-70's under clear skies as AA motored to Gordon Pass where we entered the Gordon River enroute to Naples. The homes along the waterways were fantastic. A radio check-in with the Municipal marina made it clear that a mere 43' sailboat, without reservations, was not welcome. Asked where it was permissible to anchor we were advised "anywhere but Naples" - hummm, they hadn't even taken our blood samples yet. We found a nice pocket of 11 foot deep water just inside Gordon Pass behind red daymark 10. Shortly a catamaran came down the river, radioed for depth and anchored just above us in our pocket of mangroves along an undeveloped shore. Across the river the sun set over the mansions... very nice.

2/15/05- What a great anchorage, the river cancels the tidal current so we had a quiet stable night, awaking to the sport fishing boats heading out at dawn. A Naples police boat pulled up alongside this morning. Very polite and helpful officer. He explained that there was a deep water inlet across from us that led back to a nice anchorage out of the heavy wake from the fishing boats. When I indicated we'd gone in there the night before, electing not to stay because we were in peoples' front yards he responded that there was nothing they could do... it was a Federal waterway. Sooo, on entering turn north at red 10, favor the west bank, take the next right and follow the channel until it widens into a basin. Guess the gal at the marina was having a bad day.

From Naples we motored to the mouth of the channel to Everglades City where we found a pocket of 7' water to anchor in, protected by mangroves. Though we were in a fairly open area the Florida mosquitoes quickly found us as the sun set. Our screens were worth their weight in gold.

2/16/05- We departed mid-morning for Flamingo, touted in the cruising guide as an old fishing village that had been discovered by the Miami crowd. We anchored off channel about 3 miles out due to shallow water.

2/17/05- This was a day to explore. We motored carefully closer to the daymark at the end of the one-time dredged channel to Flamingo, about 1/2 mile offshore and anchored, taking the dinghy to town. Surprise! No old fishing town. Instead we explored the Everglades museum, talked with rangers, viewed osprey and our first alligator, and had a great lunch at the park restaurant where the hostess was from High Cliff-Sherwood...small world.. We spent the night at anchor beside the channel after watching a ketch traverse the sundown.

2/18/05- We left Flamingo and sailed to Key West augmented by the engine about half the trip.

2/19/05- We're anchored a couple of miles off Key West - this will close this leg and the file will go to history.

Entering the Bama ICW

ICW Restaurant

A little color along the way

Foreground pilings were a home

We got the power?

Power management on a small boat is a real challenge. Serious offshore sailors add wind generators and/or solar panels and/or generators. They all have their tradeoffs. Solar is quiet, needs sun and a lot of space. Wind generators make noise and need wind - but not too much. Generators require fuel.

Power management is tricky. The serious voyagers add enough solar and drop consumption to match the input. On AA we have too many hungry toys: refrigerator, freezer, radar, radio, map plotter, computer, cell phones, etc. It takes about 4 hours of engine time with our 120 amp alternator to keep up the batteries. If we anchor with the anchor light and interior lights, refrigerator and freezer; but no furnace, chart plotter or anchor watch; we'll consume about 54 amps in 12 hours. If we have the heater and chart plotter on we'll consume about 110 amps. We can safely consume 160 amps without damaging the batteries... so we're playing it close. Even when we sail all day we need to have that 4+ hours of engine time to recharge (about 4 gallons of fuel). Essentially AA is designed to be marina based with occasional overnight stints.

The offshore folks we've talked with carefully monitor consumption to live within their non-fossil generating capacity.

Pensacola Anchorage

On Watch - an Osprey pair

Our guides - part of a group of 4

Posting less often... for now

We're posting less frequently until we start to move again. If you'd like to be e-mailed when we post click here. Put your address in the body text of the e-mail.

Ft Myers Shrimping Fleet

Freddy, Freddy - a cool character

First Gator

Red sails... Flamingo sundown