Leg I
4/22 - 4/30
Longboat Key, FL to Jekyll Island, GA
Crew - Bob Madrell, Larry Ross

4/22 1305 Embarked from our berth at Longboat Key Moorings for the beginning of the great adventure. A crowd of several saw us off, complete with bon voyage banner and Champagne. Winds were strong at 15 - 20 knots from the NW and we elected to take the inside route on the ICW rather than the planned run in the Gulf to Venice. Lots of traffic on the waterway due to Easter weekend. Picked up our first, of many, Dolphin pods that love to surf SeaBird's wake. Arrived at anchorage in the mangroves at Boca Grande at 1800. Encountered unusually poor holding in cut - got a hook on the 5^th try. Arrived at Gasparilla Inn in time for our 1930 reservation. Great food, 5 course price fix dinner at $33. GI is a 100+ year old inn and reminiscent of a bygone era. Walking tour of the town after dinner (didn't take long since BG is a tiny place and all the shops were closed).

4/23 0810 Departed for points south, across Boca Grand Pass and down Pine Island Sound past Captivia and Sanibel Islands and Ft. Myers to the Okeechobee Waterway. Less traffic on water, except in the Ft. Myers area. The waterway itself was not crowded. Okeechobee was in fine form, water was high and foliage green, an interesting cruise reminiscent of canal cruising in Europe. Searched for, but did not see any alligators. Arrived at La Belle at 1800 after transiting the first (Franklin) lock east of Ft. Myers. Unfortunately our two choices for restaurants were both closed due to Easter Sunday and we wound up dining at a KFC/Pizza Hut/Taco Bell combo facility, much to our chagrin. Met an old English chap - Ted - who has been cruising his 35 foot Benneteau for 7 years single handed. Ted joined us for dinner and we had an interesting discussion of life at sea.

4/24 0840 Motored the balance of the Okeechobee to Stuart. Wind 15-20 from the west, no problem in the waterway, but made it a bit choppy on Lake Okeechobee. Today took us through the remaining 4 locks without incident. Anchored at Clewiston for lunch before crossing the lake. Still no alligators. Arrived at Northside Marina at 1945 and dined at Wahoo's Restaurant at the foot of the dock. Food was fair. Attempted to send email from dockside connection, but was unsuccessful, as the toll free access number was not working.

4/25 0730 Headed for Melbourne. Winds 20-25 NW, temp 78. Indian River is not one of the more interesting sections of the journey north, but we did see a lot of dolphins. We learned that the shuttle launch was postponed to tomorrow afternoon so made plans to watch it, in addition to the planned tour of the space center. Seaman Ross distinguished himself by being the first helmsman to run aground, the first of several distinctions he earned on the voyage. Arrived at the Melbourne Harbor Marina at 1900. Howard Gutin joined us for dinner at the Chart House.

4/26 1000 Learned to our disappointment that, due to the planned shuttle launch, the Space Center was not conducting tours today. But our enthusiasm for getting to see the launch outweighed this disappointment. At 1445 we were positioned at anchor near Titusville with essentially box seats for the launch. The shuttle was clearly visible on the launch pad and we assembled all the cameras anticipating some great shots of the lift off. Another bummer. The launch was canceled with 5 minutes to go due to winds in Africa! We not only didn't get a tour we didn't even get to see the launch! We continued up the ICW to anchorage in Mosquito Lagoon, near New Smyrna Beach arriving at 1930. Grilled steaks on board, accompanied by a '96 Neyers Syrah.

4/27 0730 An interesting run through varied scenery; nice homes, mangrove rivers, commercial ports, small villages, etc. Saw two families of Manatee, one group of four and another of two within a 10 miles stretch. Highly unusual. This is more Manatee than I have seen in all previous voyages combined. Seaman Ross added to his reputation by misidentifying a statue as living and by preparing to lower the anchor as we were approaching our berth at the marina. Arrived at Conch House Marina at St. Augustine at 1830. Bob Madrell's wife Linda and a couple of friends she was visiting (Mo and Jo) invited us to dinner at the Seafood Market, which was quaint with good food. (While Conch House Marina is a large and well kept facility with full services, it caters to sport fishermen, who can be noisy in the early am when preparing for the days fishing run).

4/28 Spent most of the day touring St. Augustine, America's oldest city. Excellent lunch at Columbia Restaurant, before heading north at 1545 in the afternoon. Anchored for the night off the ICW near Jacksonville Beach. Had a substantial but brief thunderstorm in late afternoon, just prior to arriving at our anchorage. Cooked two chickens, rice and veggies, consumed with appropriate beverages.

4/29 0830 Began our last day at sea. Passed Jacksonville Beach before stopping at Fernandina Beach for lunch and a quick tour of the old town. FB is quaint, old and a popular cruising stop. They have a nicely maintained and restored historic district and port right on the water; plus several good restaurants. The first cross-state railroad ran from Fernandina Beach to Pensacola, FYI trivia buffs.

After lunch we continued on to our legs end destination of Jekyll Island where we put SeaBird to bed at the Jekyll Harbor Marina (harbor is a bit of a stretch since it is a small marina consisting of one dock and is on a river not a harbor). Dined that evening at the Jekyll Island Club, another old facility similar to the Gasparilla Inn - very good food and great atmosphere. Linda Madrell again joined us for dinner as she had also been working her way north by auto, visiting friends along the way.

4/30 1100 After cleaning, laundry and covering, Bob & Linda dropped Larry and I off at the Jacksonville airport on the way home. Larry to plead for a seat on a plane as he had made reservations for the following day and I to rent a car and drive back to Longboat after finding that my internet booked reservations had somehow vaporized.