Alternative Trips: Chapter 1

8 Jan 2004, Cruising SW Florida, 29 34.040 N/ 081 10.317 W

Three days ago, the crews of Barbobasea and Jule III headed for Naples to check out Tin City (a tourist doo-dad place). We took their dinghy (aka car). We also visited Marco island and showed them how the 'peasants' lived. Barb fixed us a great Lasagna meal in their 38' foot RV. Ann is getting RV envy again! The next day we had coffee with Barbobasea and then headed north for a quick visit with the folks on SV Fate. They cruised down from the West River to Fort Myers Beach to spend the winter in their condo. We caught them in the process of moving from their condo into a first class dirt dwelling on a canal.

We left Fort Myers at 1300 heading for Anna Maria (near Bradenton) to meet up with Ren and Barb of SV Magic. We met them three years ago at Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas. They like us sail every other year to points south. This is their off year also. We tied up at Harbour Cove RV Park around 1500. The Magic crew wined and dined us at their condo and at a local restaurant, plus acted as our taxi driver. The next day, they picked us up for breakfast, and then wished us well on our voyage. We hope to meet up with them on our trip north and the fall trip south.

We had a relatively pleasant trip back to Orlando where we met up again with our friends, the Strunz.It was late in the day and only had time to take them out to dinner at Las Palmas (a Colombian restaurant). After dinner we were all tired and we headed for the RV for the night. The next morning, we greeted the Strunz family as they went to work and school. Afterwards, we weighed anchor and headed for Flagler Beach, near St. Augustine.

11 Jan 2004, Last Stop; Flagler Beach FL, 29 34.040 N/ 081 10.317 W

We arrived here yesterday but too late to meet with Tom and Nancy of SV Celena. They settled in Palm Coast after their trip to the Bahamas. Many of you will remember that we cruised the Exumas with Celana last year. The campground is great where the slips are between A1A and the Atlantic. Bob saw couple of boats sailing offshore heading south. He fussing at Ann for not heading South this year. Oh well, little sacrifices must be made, I guess.

We met a Levi look-alike; Chanu from New York. She is a Malamute/wolf mix that has similar marking and attitude. We introduced Levi to Chanu and they got along famously until Levi got a little too romantic. She would have none of that. We had a great time with Chanu's parents but unfortunately they were leaving the next day.

Tom and Nancy picked us up today for a tour of their soon to be neighborhood . You see, they too are giving up their boat for a dirt dwelling. They are having a house built in an upscale neighborhood in Palm Coast (Grand Haven). We toured their developing home, the happy hour bar, and other local attractions. Later that night, we had pizza at a local restaurant in Flagler Beach. Great pizza but some found its way into our refrigerator (lunch tomorrow).

Tomorrow, we will head back to homeport on a 15 hour drive up I-95. Not looking forward to it, but excited about seeing family and getting back to work (really). We'll sign off this journal as there is nothing notable about I-95. Stay tuned for our Air Voyage to Portugal to visit Don and Priscilla of SV Chautuaqua, our sailing buddies since Dry Tortugas days.