We left Vero on the 26th and spent the first night at Loblolly Bay. Winds 20 knots gusting. Overcast but no rain. Left at 7:30 arrived at 12:30. Loblolly Bay was well protected and pleasant. Good place to walk Buddy. Next we arrived at Boca Royal Palm Yacht Club on the 27 th. Winds still 15- 20 knots. Left at 6:30 arrived at 1:30. Changed the Guide as to bridge heights. Several new bridges and a tide board or 2 missing. Not real good for walking Buddy. Third night at Coral Reef Yacht Club in Coral Gables. Still 20 knots wind. Rough in bay. Good place for Buddy in Kennedy Parks just next door. They have a new doggy run. Shag has retired and Tony is now the head Dockmaster. Lunch on board - early dinner at snack bar. The fourth night we spent at Plantation Yacht Harbour. Docked in 20 to 25 knot winds with rain. Rough in bay. A little nasty. The good news was that they have an excellent Dog Pen of over an acre in which we could turn Buddy loose. The bad news is that they have turned the old closed restaurant into the city council meeting hall. Lost of construction going on for improvements. Up to this point the Winds have been predominately from the North through North East so we were either running before the wind or had shelter. Next day we refueled at Faro Blanco in Marathon, about half way down the keys. Had to get off the fuel dock with 25 knot winds pushing us onto the dock. Then onto the Marathon Yacht Club. As usual at Marathon Yacht Club several people in the marina turn out to help you dock. We found out at Marathon how easy it is to get your Email, so if you need to contact us while we are here send an email. The library is just across US 1 and allows access to the internet and hence Email. Of course, our cell phone is working. Marathon is really nice right now. We went to Crane Point. It's a museum and nature trails. Of course the Yacht Club food is excellent. Winds continue to be more than we like but since we are docked it's not uncomfortable. Left the Marathon Yacht Club on Friday 4 May. The winds are 15 to 20 knots from the NorthEast so we took them off the Starboard bow. Lots of spray, but not much rolling. Stayed inside at the lower helm for most of the trip. Did not go into Flamingo since the Tide times were not helpful. Ran from Marathon to Middle Cape Sable thence North West Cape Sable. Thence to Indian Key Channel Light leading to the Rod and Gun Club in Everglades City. Did not get away from the waves until we were in the channel. We hit bottom at Marker 11, backed off and made it around the bump. Spent two pleasant days at Everglades City. The Rod and Gun Club still has charm, but services are limited to power and the Restaurant. Three couples from Okeechobee drove their RV's down and met us there. They took a boat tour of the Islands, but we had already seen them. We did visit the old post office, store, museum and enjoyed the trip. Left Everglades City early, with higher tide, on the 7th for Naples. Cleared the bump at marker 11. Wind still 15 to 20 from the North East. Went well out to Cape Romano Light to get around the the Shoals. Rolling some West bound, but really began to roll when we turned Northwards. Sandy had decided that the motion sickness patch was not good for her so she didn't wear one that day. A mistake. A big mistake. The rolling subsided a little once we were protected by Cape Romano. We made it to Marco Island and went in Capri Pass. Then we took the inside route to Naples. It's lovely with lots of birds along the way. At Naples YC we docked toward the end of the northern dock. It was a little rough but not bad. Enjoyed a light dinner at the club. We left Naples on May 8 for a two night stay at Captiva YC. Winds still continued to plague us and docking was very difficult because we were pushed to the west and our finger pier was on the east side. We heard from other boaters that winds were gusting to 30 mph that day. We missed the picture of the year but did watch the 36 ft Grand Banks trawler (not ours) anchor on the flats and tipped about 30 - 40 degrees with the outgoing tides. The boat left quietly during the night and anchored almost in the ICW. We all did the beach and enjoyed our stay. Dinner at the club was especially nice. Buddy liked running on the beach, but didn't go in the Gulf deeper than his knees. The Gulf was almost glassy. >From Captiva we traveled to Venice for a one night stay. The winds finally died down and it was very pleasant. We are beginning to recognize other boaters who are traveling our route. Enjoyed lunch at the club (casual bar). We biked downtown and did a little shopping. The weather is nice now. Sarasota YC on May 11 was our next stop. We enjoyed a light lunch in the bar and then biked to St Armand's (sp?) Island for shopping and exercise. The club is very nice and can accommodate quite a few transients. On May 12 we headed for St. Pete YC but looked Bird Key YC over as we passed. We found a 20 ft or so unmanned drifting runabout just north of Ringling Causeway. We called the Coast Guard without success. Next we called Marina Jack and asked them to notify the Coast Guard. The guy at Marina Jacks took our call and promised to relay the message to the Coast Guard. The winds were 10 knots from the NE and Tampa Bay was light chop. Very pleasant. St. Pete was very nice and we enjoyed lunch at the pier and dinner at the club. There was a little mix up over VBYC being part of the council but we finally got our burgee and an excellent meal. The club is right in the middle of several parks and close to museums. The proximity to the Municipal marina makes it ideal for large groups. Excellent place to walk Buddy on the bikes. We decided that St. Pete would be a good cruise destination. May 13 Mother's Day we arrived at Carlouel after a trip, through Clearwater on a Sunday afternoon. Clearwater was busy!! Carouel Yacht Club is a very nice place. We lunched at the pool snack bar and enjoyed the pool as well as the beach. Dinner aboard the boat. Again a nice residential area in which to run Buddy with the Bike. May 14 and on to Tarpon Springs. Winds now 10 to 15 knots. Once we passed the Duneden (SP) bridge we pass several islands/bars where several boat were anchored. In particular it looked like turning westward at marker 34 and going up close to the East side of the North end of Three Rooker Bar (1/3 south from the North End) was a popular place. At the Tarpon Springs Yacht Club we carefully followed the approach instructions in the Yacht Club Guide. Shallow, but following the instructions we were ok. Getting into the Guest Slip was daunting. had to back in at a 45 deg angle between the small bridge's Eastern fenders and the adjacent boat. However we made it successfully. The Club was closed on the Monday and Tuesday that we were there but we did meet several members that dropped by. Everyone from this small club were very nice and helpful. Tuesday I managed to short out the Battery terminal on my port alternator and blew the associated inline fuse. So we spent 3 or 4 hours finding a replacement fuse. We talked to several people in the area, including Brock's alternator repair shop. All were very helpful and based upon guidance from Brock we were able to locate a useable fuse. We explored Tarpon Springs in a rental car. We were surprised about the number of beautiful (but shallow) bayous that are in the area. Of course the bayous are ringed by gorgeous houses. A short bike ride to the sponge docks from the Yacht Club through older streets and a mixture of smaller and Larger, restored houses. On Wednesday 16 May we were off again. Just as we left the entrance to the Anclote River entrance we heard a call to the Coast Guard from a boater about 1 mile behind us in the Anclote River. The boater had just come across a situation where all the occupants of a small boat had fallen into the water and the still running small boat was turning in circles in the river. Everyone was pulled out of the water but the troublesome boat continued to circle for over 30 minutes. The Coast Guard deployed a rescue boat from almost 15 miles away (Sand key) but it appeared the Coast Guard arrived after the action was over. After the empty boat incident the rest of the trip to the Treasure Island yacht Club was uneventful. The winds seem to have calmed down to a constant forecast of 5t to 10 knots with sunny days. The Yacht Club was excellent with a very easy front dock and lots of water. A relief after the shallows of Tarpon Springs. Able to find places to walk Buddy with the bikes. On the 17th of May we were off to Bird Key Yacht Club, not far from the Sarasota Yacht Club. We crossed Tampa Bay via the Sunshine Skyway Channel. West of the Channel was an area posted for no internal combustion engines. I didn't find out why. The chart show this as very, very shallow water. Tamp Bay had a light chop and we crossed without incident or meeting any ships. Bird Key also is a great place. Our slip is 100 feet from the pool and 200 feet from the bar. The fleet Captain Bill Cogbill stopped by and offered his services. We enjoyed this FCYC meeting at Bird key Yacht Club more than any other due to the fact that we attended by boat and spent several days at Bird Key. Our hats off to the Rusty Nail for showing us how to enjoy the dockside evenings. After Bird Key it was heading towards home with our first night at the Venice Yacht Club. At Venice we ran into the Mayor, Dean Calamars. Dean indicated he interest in boats and asked about Grand Banks. So of course we invited him abroad for a tour of the Manatee. We left Venice early the next morning to make Hatchett Creek bridge before it went on schedule. Next was a leisurely trip South on the Intercoastal. Lots of birds were seen on the way. After Charlotte Harbour we passed two familiar landmark marinas. Useppa Island and Cabbage Key. Just out from Redfish Pass we saw an inflatable dingy take off from South Seas Plantation and fly (yes fly) out over us. I think I could use a dingy like that one. After the dingy flyby we motored on to Captiva Island Yacht Club where Debbie the waitress/bartender/dockmaster helped us with the lines. Buddy of course went right to the beach to run in the sand and sea. Naples Sailing and Yacht Club the 22st of May. Very nice. Sandy found a shopping area named "Tin City". So did all the other boaters. Everyone enjoyed the shopping there, just a short walk or bike ride west of the Club. Next morning off to Everglades City. The route inside from Naples to Marco Island is beautiful. Lots of birds, and some nice achorages with short paths (200 ft or so) from the inside route to the Gulf. Looks like Marker 44 would be a good place to stop, anchor and walk over to the Gulf. Lots of Ospreys. Many have built their nests on top of the Markers, making them hard to read. We decided to run inside from Marco Island Through the Marco River to Goodland and the Coon Key light rather then go outside around Cape Romano. We chose half tide to insure we didn't bump too much. The depths shown on the charts were not much help. Where the charts said it was three feet, it was sometimes seven feet and were the charts said it was seven it was sometimes 4.5. I guess it has something to do with the note that says something about based on 1973 data. The run from Coon Key to Everglades City was in shallow water (7 to 8 feet) with a beam sea of 3 feet or so. Rolly but not real bad. Unfortunately I was too lazy to put up the steadying sail. Going up the Indian Key Channel we managed not to bump this time by going a little ways off of the marker. Again Everglades city was a good, pleasant stop with excellent places to walk Buddy and food stores a very short bike ride away. We left the next morning on the 24th for Marathon Yacht Club. Seas were less than 1 to 2 feet. A long (10 hours) but most pleasant ride. We meet with Dawn Gaston at marathon YC for a drink, had supper and sacked out. Next Day the 25th we went to Gilberts Marina "Resort" at Jewfish Creek. The bathroom had been upgraded since our last visit in 2000, but still nothing to write home about. also we had forgotten about this being Memorial Day Weekend and Gilberts was packed. Not a good place for Buddy, but the outside bar made good frozen margaritas. On the 26th we had some difficulty getting out off the crammed face dock at Gilberts, but finally started off to Key Biscane yacht Club. At Key Biscane we were able to get a slip even though it was Memorial Day weekend. We found a very nice little park for Buddy and good bike paths. Later KBYC members Barclay Cale and his wife met us for drinks and avery pleasant dinner while watching the Miami skyline from the KBYC. A very pleasant slip and a good nights sleep. Next on to Coral Ridge on the 27th of May. A four hour or so trip, on Sunday morning. We went outside at Government Cut and cruised to Port Everglades in almost smooth water. We docked at Coral Ridge before the Sunday Memorial Day Traffic built up. The CRYC facilities are quite nice, with a very pleasant pool and outside "Tiki" type bar. Since the dockage is adjacent to the ICW there is some rocking due to the ICW traffic. Four blocks from the Club is the Galleria and it's shops. Fortunately Sandy did not go there. There were adequate places to walk Buddy in the adjacent residential areas. On Memorial Day, Monday the 28th we just ran about 2 1/2 hours to the Boca Royal Palm Yacht and Country Club. As always Boca was excellent. They had an informal barbecue that evening and we participated. Some of the members made it a point to come over and talk to the visitors Sandy and I. The 29th was a bad day for progress. We did the inside route all the way to Pirates cove at Manatee Pocket. It seems like we missed the timing on a lot of the scheduled bridges and had to wait a lot. The Boat traffic did not get busy until about 11:00 AM. After passing West Palm Beach the traffic settled down. We had a good recreational shopping trip at the West Marine store near Pirates Cove. Also had a pleasant meal at the Pirates cove Restaurant that evening. The Last Day, 30 May we went outside at the St. Lucy Inlet and traveled to the Ft. Pierce inlet. We had smooth water and speeds up to 10.5 knots, some 2.5 knots over our normal 8 knots. There were many boats fishing. Seems like as soon as one boat catches a fish everyone hears about it on the VHF and they all flock to the location of the lucky boat. In some areas, near the inlets there must have been twenty or thirty boats all clustered together. Finally we arrived at the Vero Beach Yacht Club where we were welcomed by Vince and Theresa Palmero and shortly later by Joe Ritter. It was very nice to return home with friend there to greet us. Roger and Sandy.