Mar 13 - Time to catch you up again.... We left off with leaving Ft. Myers Beach the next morning. And so we did. I started up the engine, warmed it up then walked forward and dropped the mooring line then - we were on our way home. 8 days on the water and we weren't quite ready to head home. However, I have this really cool project started and really need to get it completed before my next Captain's class. On top of that, I have a scooter tire that needs to be replaced and Bob has some maintenance we need to do before his next trip.

We did our "usual" which was to stop at Ft Myers Yacht Basin to pump out then to fill up with fuel. I do like to keep those tanks toped off when I'm not using the boat all the time. We pulled out of the marina and headed up the river towards our house and dock.

As soon as we passed the railroad bridge we saw this kind of funny thing going on. They were moving so slow that it just had to be Manatees. As it turned out, there were 3 or 4 of them trying to ensure their species would continue. At least that is what we thought was happening. Every now and then one or the other would come up for air but otherwise it was all - well lets just call it business.

The manatees gather at the Orange River during the winter because the outlet of the power plant keeps the water warm. This winter there wasn't a large population because the water in the Caloosahatchee wasn't too bad. We didn't see them in our canal, probably because of the boat ramp, but did other places on the river.

We left for Nashville almost a week and a half ago. Arrived on Friday, unpacked into our extended stay small room and I headed off to Cedar Creek Yacht Club to get set up. I was just about finished when I found out the storms we were hearing about all day had a tornado heading almost straight at our hotel. Deb was ready for me to come back. I asked her to check with the manager about the best place to be if the tornado hit us. I agreed with him, under the steel stairs. So that was our plan in case.

As it turned out, I arrived about 10 minutes before it was close and watched the weather track. Told Deb it would go south of us and it did. By about 1 1/2 to 2 miles. We did get the hail but thank goodness it wasn't huge hail. No car damage. I really didn't want to check and see how good my insurance was for a rental car with hail damage.

It was all good as a friend of ours used to say.

Below you can see the entrance of Cedar Creek Yacht Club. It's a great facility with great people. Then below you can see some of my class hard at it plotting. Up front you can see my new screen and projector hard at work.

That pretty much gets everyone up-to-date. We'll be back home for about 2 1/2 weeks then I have another class coming up at Green Turtle Bay in Grand Rivers, KY starting April 14th. Then as soon as we are back from that class we will be leaving for a trip to the Bahamas. So far I believe we have 5 other boats going with us. I just got an email day before yesterday of another person who has cleared their calendar to go. We will be meeting over at West Palm probably Lake Worth in case we can't leave on May 10th and cross. The Okeechobee is going to be open in May now but won't be in June. So, that just means we'll get over on time (based on weather) and return by way of the Keys. I can see Key West on the horizon sometime in June.

I'll update the Bahamas trip web page on my projects section this next weekend and I'll include the crossing information on course to steer and speed made good. In the meantime, if you are going - you must have a passport, you should go ahead and get your customs sticker, and finally make sure you get the local boaters option. The local boaters option won't be nearly as big a deal this time because you will probably have to go south and go right by West Palm where you can check in since for west coast people the Okeechobee won't be open. Deb and I will have to go to Stuart and pick up our bird before we head south and around. So once we get back across everyone may end up heading a different direction. We also may just go to West Palm and rent a car to pick up Jimmy Buffett. We don't have to decide now but you do have to get your passport and customs sticker. More this weekend.