

We entered the waters of Florida the first part of February. Now we could take a breather, this area was not hit by Katrina, so there are marinas in tact. We spent a few days at Panama Beach, then went on to Apalachicola to wait for good weather to cross the Gulf of Mexico to Clearwater Beach. These first two pictures are taken at our spot in Apalachicola. We could walk or ride our bikes to town from here. Very nice small town with many new shops and restaurants, it has been discovered. We especially enjoyed the fresh Gulf oysters and talapia.
Apalachicola to Clearwater Beach is a twenty hour trip on our boat, so we left at 7:30 am and arrived at Anclote Key at 3 am the next morning. We had beautiful weather for the crossing, so the time spent waiting was worth it. We anchored at Anclote Key, slept until 9:00, then

took off to Clearwater Beach Marina. This was a beautiful place to spend a week of R&R.
Our friend and mate, Jim, flew back to Houston, as he was ready to leave us on our own. We learned many valuable lessons from him about our boat, and tips for future navigation.
This is the view from our boat at Clearwater Beach Marina.