Little Current for Canada Day

We stayed over Sunday in Tobermory. 9.30 am Church. A Lutheran and Anglican Church right on the water. Beautiful, and a delightful and welcoming congregation. Lunch aboard Symmetry. Then a little afternoon rest, before we went for a walk to find the tower.

We found the interpretive centre first. Very well done displays and a video of Fathom Five Marine Park and the Flower Pot Islands. Fathom Five was the first Marine Provincial Park in Canada.

From the tower you can see the position of all of the surrounding islands relative to Tobermory. Another outstanding Canadian sight to behold.

Of course we had to have another ice cream cone on our return to the boat. Another rest and then about 8.30 pm we did a walk about the harbour. A beaver entertained us for quite awhile. Slapping his tail and diving, only to come back up again. We never did figure out where his house was.

Tobermory had us packed in like sardines on the wall, and it made for a very interesting/ read this as difficult departure. The nearest boat captains were most willing to help us get away from the dock and protect their boats at the same time. So, Monday morning we pushed off to make our way to Killarney. Bright sunny day, 10 k winds from the south, gave the boat an uncomfortable rock and roll that seemed to diminish as the day wore on. We departed 8 am, and arrived at 1;30 pm Killarney.

You can't visit Killarney without some fish and chips and ice cream. It is a tradition. No more school bus for fish and chips, a new building replaces it. The food is still as good as always, just new building for the whole operation. Our lunches seem to be so late in the day that we have no appetite for dinner. A glass of wine and cheese and crackers with some veggies seems a perfect alternative to a heavy dinner. We passed the evening on Symmetry's back deck watching the boat traffic on the channel.

Tuesday morning we had breakfast out at the Sportsman Inn. Has this ever changed. New owners, who have spent a lot of money upgrading the Inn. It is now at least a 4 star establishment. What a change from 5 years ago.

Tuesday we made our way to Little Current. Another bright sunny day, and this time there was warmth in the sun. Arrived around 1.30 pm. Walked the main street, and then walked to roadside lunch place up on the highway. Fish Tacos for lunch, and then you guessed it ...... ice cream cones. Well it was right next door, what could we do?

And has Little Current ever changed in the 5 years since we were here last. There is 1 mile of dock space here, with floating docks at either end of the wall along the main street.  An east and west docking area. The staff are as warm, friendly, and helpful as always. A good thing that some things don't change.

We had another afternoon rest,  and reading books. Peter and Jim took another walk to investigate the swing bridge. We had decided to meet for a late snack and wine on Symmetry on their return.

We will spend Canada Day in Little Current. Woke to a light rain, windy, overcast, and chilly. Jacket weather. Not the type of day we were hoping for. There is a lot going on here to celebrate. Let's hope the sun decides to show up later.

As I am writing this, Peter is washing down the decks of the boat to remove all of the small flies, and May flies that covered the decks this morning.

The wifi connections here are very slow, I mean snail mail slow. I have forgotten how slow wifi used to be. Patience is a virtue, but it will be a challenge. I suspect that wifi will be non existent in some areas of Lake Superior. The point I am trying to make is that these blogs will become infrequent as we travel. I will try to publish when we can.

Lake Superior Bound

(OK. I have the wrong blogger sight. We are aboard Deja Vu. I will get onto the right sight, but it will take too much time right now. Enjoy this blog.)

The hardest part about making a trip like this seems to be just getting away from the dock. There is always so much to do in preparation.

This year the pre trip maintenance for DejaVu included the building of a new swim platform, a new name signboard for the stern, all new plumbing lines throughout the boat, a new port light(window)    in the forward head, and then the regular  oil change, etc. And that is all before you can clean the boat and start to load the boat for everything you think you may need for the summer.

Our friends Jim and Linda Murray from Edisto Island, aboard Symmetry, (a 42' Symbol) had arrived from Brewerton New York where they had wintered their boat. They arrived on Monday and had waited patiently for us to extricate ourselves from our "landlubber" activities.

We thought we were all ready on Thursday night for the Friday morning departure. Decided to watch some TV. The new TV we had purchased for the boat. It wouldn't work. So very early Friday morning we exchanged the TV, installed and checked the new one. It worked! And we were ready to depart.

9:15 a.m., departing the dock Town of Midland. Jim and Linda had gone to Bayport to fuel and pump their boat and were ready. Our destination was White Cloud Island, near Wiarton on the Bruce Peninsula. We had a beautiful day for boating. Little to no wind, so little to no waves. And sunshine.

We ran into fog around Hope, Beckwith and Christian Islands. It seemed to be centralized around the islands and we ran out of the fog very quickly. There were a few moments that we could not see Symmetry through the fog.  The Nottawasaga Bay crossing was perfect, and in some spots the water was mirror-like. An unexpected event for such a large body of water.

We got into White Cloud about 4 p.m. I always like this anchorage. We have enjoyed many evening here and it did not disappoint. These are new waters for Deja Vu, but for us we reminisced other trips to the west side of Georgian Bay. It felt like deja vu for us.

Saturday morning we were up early and headed out by 7:15 a.m. The weather was to deteriorate into the afternoon with rain, possible thunderstorms, and wind gusts of 60 km out of the east. And we all know; nothing good comes out of the east in the area. We wanted to get as far as we could. While Lion's Head was our original destination, the weather didn't materialize and we pushed on for Tobermory(One of my favourite spots on Bruce Peninsula). Arrived 1:00 p.m. We made a short side trip along the way to show Jim and Linda Wingfield Basin, mother natures perfect harbour of refuge.

Once the boats were settled we walked the waterfront, decided to have a big lunch at the Crow's Nest Restaurant, and a light dinner aboard. Jim treated us all to ice cream cones, the perfect end to our meal. And we took a little walk about to enjoy our cones, work off some calories, and oh yes, do the tourist thing.

For some reason we all were tired and had an afternoon rest. Well you know how plans change ....... our lunch had been a mid afternoon meal, and come dinner time no one was really hungry. We decided to continue our resting and meet after 8 p.m. and see if anyone was ready to eat. We did get together about 8:30, no one was hungry, so we took another walkabout Tobermory. Returned to the boats about 10.

The bad weather never did arrive. It was cloudy all day and quite cool. We couldn't get warmed up.

The agenda for Sunday, weather permitting, Church 9:30 a.m, then off for Club Harbour ??? on our way towards Manitoulin Island.

On our Way Home, Aug 25, 2014

Well we have been having quite a time with our communications. Once we got into the US we no longer had cell phone coverage or our mini wifi. At least at reasonable rates, I hate roaming charges. So we had to shut everything down. Finally got somewhere to buy a really cheap $10. phone and then bought minutes that we can use in  US and call Canada. But still no wifi, unless we were at  marina that offers it. My Mac computer that I use for blogging and pictures also decided to die. When we got to Brewerton and Winter Harbour Marina, Jim Murray had his truck there and we made a trip to Best Buy. The diagnosis was terminal. They figure the motherboard has died. We had a little memorial service for the Mac, and then proceeded directly to the new computer section and bought another MacBook Pro.

The original set up to get started was really easy, however getting to my blog proved to be another story. I have fought with this for 4 or 5 days now. For some reason I cannot get logged in to get back to the blog I have been using for this summer. I can get logged into the older blog from 2013. So I made the executive decision just to add to the older blog. 

With all of this communication fiascle I am so far behind on the blogging I am just going to share the more recent things.

Sign posted coming out of a lock. Are they serious? Impossible.

Jim and Linda, Ticonderoga

While on Lake Champlain we took a day to tour Fort Ticonderoga. It is truly amazing what they have accomplished. The fort had almost totally layer to ruin after many years of neglect. They have completely restored the fort and have many interpreters living the daily life of Fort Ticonderoga 1814.

 We left Lake Champlain and continued along the Erie Canal west to the Oswego Canal and arrived at Brewerton and Winter Harbor Marina where Jim and Linda and Bob and Linda Wilkens leave their boats in heated storage for the winter.
Steve and Linda Franko arrived there the same day. We used Jim's truck and made a side trip to the finger lakes, Lake Cayuga I think to see some waterfalls. Watkins Glen, absolutely outstanding a 1.5 mile walk down through some pretty amazing rock formations with water flowing at the bottom and some breath taking waterfalls. We then drove to Buttermilk falls and a third waterfall that the name escapes me right now. One of those seniors moments.

Peter, Cheryl, Jim, Linda, Steve and Linda.

Thursday morning, we all went out together for breakfast and after a quick shopping trip we said good by to our boating friends. Till we see you again in the spring. There are so many Linda's in our boating life, it has been decided that when all of the Linda's are together again, they are going to have a renaming ceremony where I will become an honorary "Linda".



Thursday we made our way to Oswego and spent the night. Friday morning, our Lake Ontario crossing was delayed by fog. We finally were able to make the final Oswego Canal lock and clear the lighthouse onto Lake Ontario by 9 am. Light winds. As we approached the US/Canada border mid lake the fog bank engulfed us.  We could only see one boat length in front of the boat. Fog is so disorienting. We were steering by the GPS. For hour after hour.

We had made arrangements for Carolyn Handy to join us in Trenton for her vacation week. You can imagine our surprise, to see her and Brian standing along the Murray Canal as we approached the first swing bridge.  We got into Trenton, cleared customs, had a cocktail and then out for dinner. Great to rejoin friends. We haven't seen them for awhile. Great to catch up.

With it being the weekend, we all decided to make the trip to Alexandria Bay to visit Boldt Castle. The town was bustling with activity, something we hadn't been seeing in the upper New York state towns along the canal. The Thousand Islands area is certainly thriving. Boldt Castle did not disappoint. We had a great day and returned to the boat for some Country Ribs that simmered in BBQ sauce all day in the crock pot. Brian and Carolyn had brought an apple pie that was the finishing touch to our map.

Peter and Cheryl doing our tourist thing at Boldt Castle.

A very calm waterway reflecting the clouds.

Breakfast on board, and we said goodbye to Brian. He had to return home to go back to work. Wait, but first, the Perkins ladies wanted Peter's attention. You didn't think I would get thru a blog without talking about those Perkins girls, did you? Peter has the routine down pat.

Along the way we met Frank and Deborah Hurst aboard "Another Compromise" We had heard that they were around in this area, but we did not think that we would meet them. What a surprise. Stopped and tied up long enough for hugs, a quick catch up and a promise to get together at the end of their boating season. They are travelling a lot slower than we are. They plan to be in Bobcaygeon in 10 days. We will probably be there in 2 or 3 days from now. We have been away so much in the last year that Peter's to do list is nagging him and he wants to get home and get at it before his deer hunting season. Ever since Montreal he has been ready to go home.

We had our personal best day with the locks. We completed 12 locks in one day. Of course with that many locks the mileage/distance was not great ........ only 32 miles. Spent the night in Campbellford. Our captain had promised us chocolates. Of course I am thinking of an entire bag of chocolates from the local factory. OOOPS! a miscalculation. It is Sunday, and they are closed by the time we arrived. Peter didn't let us down. He returned from the office with a hand full of chocolates for us. Peter laid down for a rest and Carolyn and I had a beverage and sat under the shade trees on a picnic table. Crockpot Chicken for dinner tonight. What would I do without that crockpot?

It was a quiet night on the Trent Severn Waterway (TSW). Only one other boat on the wall. Monday morning we were up in good time, showered, breakfast on the boat,  and Peter wanted to get a good start on the day. We were sitting on the blue line waiting for the 9 am opening by 8:15. That's just not like Peter.

Carolyn waiting for Lock 13 to open. Good time to catch up on some of that reading.

Today is to be a hot day. The waterway is calm and very little boat traffic. One of the lock keepers yesterday told us that on Wed and Thurs they had no boats thru at all. 

The plan for the day is to make Peterborough today.  And Lakefield tomorrow where we hope to add Sandra Hartman to our crew.

Marineland to St. Augustine, April 2013

We had a couple of relaxing days at Marineland after Steve and Linda left, while we waited for Monday when we could pick up a rental car from Enterprise. We were fortunate that we were able to make the trip from Marineland to Port Charlotte to pick up our car in the one day timeframe.

Overturned pontoon boat.

There was some excitement out on the ICW on our last evening. A pontoon boat broke off one of its pontoons while making a tight turn at full speed. No one had ever heard of that happening before. The dockmaster Chris quickly went out to rescue the boat and 2 aboard. By the time he got to them the pontoon boat had overturned and the broken pontoon was drifting one direction and the balance of the boat was in the current going a different direction. The two passengers were in the water, so he was able to get them into his boat. They then made sure that the boat and pontoons were out of the ICW, so as to not be a hazard to other boaters. Quite a bit of excitement, and it was good that there were no injuries.

Sunrise on the ICW, Mantanzas Inlet

The next morning we were up early and on our way before 7 a.m. to catch the last of the high tide, that we needed to be sure to get out of the Marineland Marina. It also meant that we would catch the tide right for our journey to St. Augustine. What should have been a 4 hour trip, ended up being only a 2.5 hour trip due to the tide effect. Got to love it when a plan comes together.

St. Augustine were ready for us. We asked for a dock for Wed and Thursday to get the boat unpacked and ready to be hauled. They gave us a haul out time of 2:30 pm.

Peter getting the sail ready to come off boom.

Wed. we took the sails off the boat and got them stored. Today, Thursday, I have been packing our clothes, some food stuffs that we won't need or won't store well on the boat. What a job. It took all morning.

Peter has been to West Marine and Home Depot. West Marine had another solution for the faulty depthsounder, and gave him a new power cable. West Marine said if this doesn't fix the problem, then check the unit to see if it was made in Mexico or Hungary. If made in Mexico he said they would just give us a new depth sounder unit DSM 300 module. Who knows, we may one day get this operational.

Originally thought this boat waiting for tide.

Peter then wants to caulk the toe rail around the boat. He also wants to take the alternator off the boat, and check the muffler. He thinks they both probably need to be replaced. He also wants to change the engine oil before the boat is hauled.

Not so much. Looks like it has been abandoned.

Tomorrow morning I will clean the glass on the enclosure and get it put away in the v-berth before the boat is hauled. We will also store all of the cushions in the vberth. It worked well last year. Peter wants to pull up all of the floor boards and store them up higher.

Then we should be ready to be hauled.

We may need the remainder of the day to get the dinghy onto the deck and secured and wrap the chartplotter to protect it from the weather.

Then we can be on our way home to catch up with family and friends. We will get Deja Vu ready for a summer on Georgian Bay.  There are a number of boaters that we have met doing the Loop that are planning to come to Georgian Bay this summer and we want to be ready to show them some of our favorite anchorages.

Fort Pierce to Marineland

The days begin to run together when I haven't posted a blog for awhile. I need to download my pictures so I can talk intelligently about what we have been doing.

The picture download started at Fort Pierce so I will also.

7 am Fort Pierce Park.

We overnighted at Fort Pierce. A really nice marina, and it is under construction for an extension and a better access. The big machinery is out front of the marina and digging and building a new breakwall. There is a lot of current as you come in, so the new breakwall should make entering and docking a lot easier.

A laundry and shower were high on the list of things to do.

Using a sailboat for a billboard sign. Just not right!

Linda had said we could sleep in, but she changed her mind once she saw the tide table. We were up early, had a pump out and caught the tide to make our way up the ICW. While waiting for the bridge to open we saw a sailboat off to the side, anchored and being used as a billboard. Peter's comment, "now that's an awful way to treat a sailboat!"

We have been so fortunate, as we have had day after day of great boating weather. The wind was off our back quarter so we were able to get our sail out and make good time. Nice to be under wind power for a change..... so quiet and peaceful. I spent the day searching for a marina that would haul and store the boat for a reasonable rate over the next 9 months.

You are taking too long to do the Loop, if your Looper flag looks like this.

We had a big change in plans after talking to boat brokers here in Florida, and in Canada. They all now use the same Yacht World pricing/estimates. We were told that Surona was now valued in the $30's, and if listed for mid $40's; no one would even look at  her. Five years ago, Peter turned down $85k, and since then has added another $30k to make her Bahamas ready. What a disappointment. We knew boat values were down but still thought the value would come in between $50k to $60k. CHANGE OF PLANS. 

We decided we may as well keep the boat here over the year, return in spring of 2014, and go to the Bahamas. Perhaps Surona will be our southern boat and Deja Vu our Georgian Bay boat.

Linda Franko (not my best picture of her)

Steve Franko

We anchored out at Calalisa. Great anchorage and we had another wonderful sunset. The wind stayed up till well into the evening. Of course the tide changed and the wind direction changed overnight. All to make for an interesting job of getting the anchors up in the morning. The anchor line of Steve and Linda's boat was under Surona and around the keel and then the lines were wrapped. Half an hour later all was good again, and we were on our way.

This was another morning that while we thought perhaps we would sleep in, the tides once again determined that it should be an early start to catch the tide. Catching the tide is so important, it can make the difference from travelling at 4 knots, when you are against the tide, or 7 knots if you can travel with it.

Off for Marineland Marina. 53 mile day. The winds favoured sailing, but we didn't put the sail out. Travelling the ICW, is like travelling in a channel; and with the sail up you cannot see half of the channel. And it makes it more difficult to see those ever important markers. There are always areas where there is shoaling and you need to be able to see them and move around them.

We arrived at Marineland, a brand new marina, well protected, very clean, great staff, and only $1./ft. Showers, laundry, pump out. No fuel. Time for that sleep that we have been missing. Dinner with Steve and Linda aboard Surona. We had one of the most amazing sunsets, and I was able to capture the rose/red colors with the camera.

We will be staying 5 days at Marineland. Yesterday we finally got Peter's drivers license in the mail. What a run around that has been. The Minsitry of Transportation, decided to send it to Banana Bay where Steve and Linda had wintered. They completely ignored the new address I gave them for St. Augustine in the second request. We were fortunate that Larry, the Banana Bay dockmaster, had kept the letter and he sent it overnight mail to Marineland Marina. Unfortunately we were not able to arrange a car rental with Enterprise till Monday. Enterprise is the only rental agency that will come and pick you up. And the courtesy for the marina is in the shop getting fixed. We will have to be patient. There are worse places to wait.

Biking the hiking trails.

The first day we were here we took a bike ride through a pathed hiking area, then on to the beach. An amazing beach, with coquina rocks. Rocks that are made up of seashells crushed together. Then lunch at TJ's Snack Shack.

Marineland Beach.

The second morning here we arranged for a kayak ecotour. 2.5 hours. Once we had crossed the ICW and were back in the protected channels it was easy going. With the tide/current for part of the tour. The guide was quite knowledgeable about the are and the wildlife. It is migration season for a lot of the birds; he pointed out Lesser Tern, a flock of Glossy Ibis, Barn Swallows, White Egrets, Blue Heron, and showed us where the Manatee had been eating the grass along the canals. We saw the oyster beds up close, and he explained that the Federal government had made this area a protected area once they realized the importance of these canals as the nursery for a lot of the seafood we love. Shrimp, crab, oysters, mullet, mangrove snapper, etc.

Steve and Linda on our double kayaks for the eco tour.

We had to cross the ICW to get back, and ended with about a 1/4 mile paddle against the current. Glad it wasn't any longer than a 1/4 mile.

Our goodbyes are really a see you later, as we know we will either meet them again on our drive home, or on Georgian Bay this summer.

Steve and Linda had to leave to make their destination of Fernandina Beach by Monday for the MTOA Rendezvous. So once again we find ourselves saying good bye to Steve and Linda. They are such good travel companions. We always have a good time with them. We know it will be a relatively short good bye; we will perhaps see them on our way back home, or we definitely will see them this summer on Georgian Bay. They will return to their northern boat "Guppy" to travel the Trent and Georgian Bay.

Outstanding sunset at Marineland Marina. The colors are so vivid. 

Well here we are ....... alone again. What to do? What to do? I have a book to finish, Peter is starting a book. And there always is the interesting process of watching others docking their boats. The challenges being, tide, current, wind, water depth (not enough), or limited space on the dock. Like it when we can watch others, not so much; when it is us trying to do the sometimes impossible......  a controlled, experienced docking with all of the above challenges.

Lantana to Fort Pierce

Unusual sunset sky... pink clouds.

We had anchored out at Lantana and were treated to a wonderful sunset sky.

We had a beautiful day to travel the ICW, with 11 more bridges in our path. The progress is slow with a lot of bridges, you either have to try and time your arrival to their schedule of either on the half hour or the quarter hour. Sometimes we were fortunate and arrived in time, sometimes not so fortunate and would miss the lift and have to wait a half hour till the next lift. Our travelling speed is limited to what the little 28 hp Yanmar diesel can generate, and then how much current and wind we are travelling against.

Our progress was hampered with winds that from time to time were approaching 25 miles per hour.

If you have to ask the price, you can't afford it.

We passed a marina along the way that had huge boats tied. You certainly become aware that for the top 1% of the population, there is no such thing as a recession. It is impossible to imagine the total value of all of these boats. Each and everyone of them came in the category; "if you have to ask the price, ...... you can't afford it"

Yes, it's a fixer upper. Handyman Special.

As we approached Jupiter there was a barge just off the channel with a house on it. The barge looked aged and so did the house. Peter's comment: "Yes, it's a fixer upper."

Then just up the channel a little ways we could see a red lighthouse on the shore.

Steve and Linda, chose a delightful anchorage for the night in the Hobe Sound, just off the channel. Getting rafted up to them proved to be a little challenging with the wind that was blowing thru there. The winds were expected to diminish into the evening.

Jupiter Lighthouse.

My turn to cook dinner tonight. Glad to return the favour. Steve has cooked all of the dinners so far. Linda is trying to adjust her diet to a vegetarian diet, and perhaps more to the vegan side. No cheese, or eggs. A vegetarian meal preparation from this carnivore girl will be an interesting feat. Although I have been watching what Steve has been producing and am willing to give it a try.

The meal menu was a vegetarian spaghetti, including salad, and refried beans and salsa appetizer. Steve had caught some catfish, that he cooked for another appetizer. Drinks on the flybridge and dinner on Surona.

Look close, pelican riding on outboard.

The men thought that perhaps their luck at cards would change aboard Surona. Not so much. A little better, but nothing to rave about. They at least put up a fight. Perhaps we need a new game. I never thought I would say it; but, winning all of the time loses its excitement. Too much of a good thing, I guess.

Sailboat race close to Fort Pierce

Today was another great day to be on the water. Only about 3 bridges today, and only one that we needed to request an opening. Pretty uneventful trip. We ran thru a small area of rain, but most of the trip was under sunny skies. We met a sailboat race of 4 boats as we approached Fort Pierce.

We opted to stay at the Fort Pierce City Marina. Time to do a couple loads of laundry, have a shower, and Peter was off to find a WalMart to buy a new international phone card to replenish our US phone for another month. Steve is preparing a vegetable pizza for dinner tonight. Sounds good. Mmmmmmm.

Look at the size of those boats. So much wealth in such a small area. 

Hollywood Beach and then on to Lantana

We spent a day and a half at Hollywood Beach. Great place. We stopped here last year and enjoyed it, and Hollywood didn't disappoint us this time either.

After dinner on the first night we up to the Hollywood Beach outdoor theatre to watch the entertainment; "Burnt Biscuits" was the name of the band and they were a lot of fun to listen to. Then back to the boat for another game of Euchre. Ladies won 3 out of 3. Now we will have to practice to be humble.

Breakfast on the Beach with Steve & Linda

Next morning we were out for breakfast on the beach. We returned to the boat because we were tied to "Mi T Mo's" spot on the deck of Joe's Crab Shack and he was returning for 10:30 am as there was some bad weather coming in the afternoon, and he didn't want us to be moving and tying boats in bad weather. The area was under a tornado watch.

Peter on Dania Beach Pier

We took a bike ride up to the Dania Beach pier, probably about 2 to 3 miles away. This was going to be our hottest day so far, but with the SW wind it was very pleasant. Peter and I stopped for an ice cream cone before returning to the boat.

We got a trolley schedule and for $1 per person one way; we were off to the local Publix. Time to replenish the boat.

By the time we got back Mike on Mi T Mo had returned and we got a tour of his 90 ' PT boat. It was a supply boat in its day. Looks like a huge metal trawler. The inside of the boat was quite surprising for its accommodations. Mike has done a lot of work on it.

While we were on the flybridge of Yesterday's Dream, visiting and enjoying a before dinner cocktail, the sky got dark. Real, Real dark and very ominous. We were just discussing whether we should add some more lines to Surona and Yesterday's Dream. We were tied off Yesterday's Dream, who was tied to Mi T Mo.  Just then the wind came blowing down the channel and the temperature dropped decidely cooler.

Peter quickly added more lines to secure us. And when he looked up he could see the rain coming down the channel. Then there was so much rain, that we couldn't see the bridge, that was less than a quarter mile away. We got a fair amount of rain in a very short time, and we were fortunate that the bad parts of the weather system passed north and south of us. But we were prepared.

Read the print on top line of screen. Our heroes.

Thursday night is Karaoke Night at Joe's Crab Shack. There is a lot of good local talent. Steve and Peter, once again tried to entertain everyone with their version of "Leroy Brown" and "Memphis Tennessee". I have it all on film, and for a price I will share it.

Look at size of boat along already huge house.

This morning we were off north, with the threat of rain and some thundershowers chasing us up the Intercoastal. We travelled thru Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton on our way to our final destination of Lantana. No one in this area knows about a recession. There is just mile after mile of lavish, outstanding waterfront home. We even saw a boat with its own personal helicopter. Huge homes, with matching huge boats in front.

They are everywhere.  Mini White House

The day was overcast with the occassional spits of rain, and it wasn't till the last hour of our travels that the rain got more earnest.   Lantana was ahead with a good anchorage for the night. Looks like a good place to spend the evening. The winds are to move around to the NW and then N tonight. This will be a well protected spot. At the time of making this blog the winds are still from the south. Perhaps no one has given the weatherman a compass.

Such Abject Poverty! It breaks a persons heart to see people having to live like this.