Getting started

Enjoying Key Lime Pie in Key West: The southernmost point in Florida:

Alligators everywhere:

February Diary

We have been tourists for a few weeks while we search for a boat. This has taken us to a variety of campsites and wonderful SERVAS visits:

31 Jan-2 Feb: Staying with Frank and Nicole in Pompano Beach.

3 -6 February: Staying with Jennifer, Kane, Kate and William in Naples.

7 Feb: Bahia Honda State Park Buttonwood Campsite, Florida Keys.

8 Feb: Camping at Leo's Campground in Key West.

9 Feb: Bahia Honda to camp at the Sandspur Beach, Florida Keys.

10-11 Feb: Staying with Ardyth and Don in Boca Raton where we were taken for a cruise on the Intracoastal Waterway and for a visit to the Wakodahatchee Wetlands Preserve. Visited Shark Valley National Park.

12-13 Feb: Staying with Linda and Ken in Cape Coral where we enjoyed the pool and spa. Ken took us on a sunset cruise along the canal. You too, can take a cruise with Linda and Ken through Carefree Birding.com.

14-16 Feb: Staying with Patti and Bob in Fort Myers where Jim and Emily took us for a cruise along the Caloosahatchee River.

17-18 Feb: Peace River Campground and our first experience of the nasty blighters called "No-see-ums".

19-23 Feb: Seminole Campground, Fort Myers.

24 Feb-5 March: House sitting for Emily at the Landings. "We could get used to this."

Taking the 'Pearl' for a sea trial and survey on Friday 13th. Unlucky for some, but we hope it will be a good day for us and that the boat will get a good report.

Here are some shots of 'Pearl' as they appeared on the broker's website. She is a 30' steel Bruce Roberts trawler that was custom built and launched in 2005:



This cabin has since been gutted by John to create a better sleeping arrangement for us.

The motor is an 85hp Scania diesel engine with easy walk-around access.

Camping at Easterlin Park, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Thanks to Bill for the photo.

January Diary

We flew with Air New Zealand to San Francisco on 19 January and on to Fort Lauderdale with American Airlines. There were 60 hours between waking up in Christchurch, New Zealand and finally getting to bed in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.We stayed at Easterlin Park in Fort Lauderdale from 20 January to 30 February. This is a lovely park close to the heart of downtown Fort Lauderdale. The park has 250 year old cypress trees, nature trails, abundant wildlife and a fair measure of traffic noise from the I95 and neighbouring railway line. It's many characters included the man who walks his pet pig at dusk. We saw at close range many creatures that were new to us: squirrels, racoons, iguanas, snakes, lizards (with brown heads, green bodies and blue tails) and a variety of wading birds.