The Adventures of the Sterling Lady 4 and the Sterling Lady 5
The bridge tender at Alva is still wearing the Red hats.
We had never stoped at the pricey Crows Nest in Venice before, but with a 24 ft. boat, we thought we would give it a try.
I must admit, For that price, I was not impressed.
Fixed docks, lots of current and traffic, long way to a very ritsy town, Venice.
Today was in the 90's and the Micowave decided not to work.
Didn't want to cook in the cabin, too hot. So we got out the Butane cooker, it worked really well.
heading back, we had to do the mandatory stop at cabbage key for thier $12 hamburber without fries.


But the ambiance is great.
We had hoped to stop and stay at Waldens at Boca Grand Key, but they were "full" so we kept heading south.
Maybe next time.
We went in the Ortona Lock, went to leave the lock, started the engine, and an alarm is going off.

Luckily, River Forest Yachting center is about a half mile east, we went in there and were Immediately, quickly, and inexpensively fixed!

I can highly recommend River Forest for repairs.
Another one for the Boat names file... think he is a poker player??
St. Johns River, revisited.
8/16/13
This is our 3rd trip this summer up to Boat Tree Marina, where we are storing the Bayliner on the trailer.
We splashed the boat, and are back aboard.
We choose the covered docks at the Marina.
In summer months, it's much cooler, keeps the rain off, and if your lucky , you get one with some of these nifty fans hanging over your aft deck.
You gotta love the St. Johns River.
This trip I trailered up my Carolina Skiff, so we could do some exploring on the smaller waterways,
Our first explorations, we went to Blue Springs. This is the walkway up to the head of the springs.
The View from the walkway. The closer you get to the springs, the clearer the water gets.
Scarry stuff.
This homebuilt real paddlewheeler was sitting out front.
Took the skiff several miles up the WiKiva River. It's a great skinny water boat.
We also expored the entire length of the Dead River.
Dead River Swamp.
Ya have to wonder, why the white fungus line on all the trees stops at the same level?
This Blue heron was on our dock every morning.
Some of the local boaters invited us to a BBQ and this car was in the garage.
It's the car from the ZZ Top Video.
With the Skiff we could get into the shallow marina at the Swamp House, so we did.
Here's a couple of signs for the sign file, found at the Bayside Grill, Key Largo.
Besides being ridiculously overpriced, Hontoon landing is ignoring the $5 Florida pump out law.

Shame on them!!
Thinkin of getting one of these new type of vessels,
but I would go with the sat tv option!
9/1/2013
We are OFF to the AGLCA Rondevous !
Attention Loopers@!
I ordered this at www.chartworksart.com

Pretty cool, mounted on canvass with your picture.
We left Key Largo ,went to Stuart , and then  picked up the boat in the Boat Tree Marina storage yard, in Sanford fl and drove to St. Augustine to meet up with some friends.
Twas a hot day, so we sat between boats, in the shade, waiting for the sun to go down and had DockTails.
We went to "dinner" at one of our favorite St. Augustine bars, the A1A Ale House.
IF you look closley, you an see the dark hull of the Sterling Lady, dead center of the picture.
We later went to the "no Name Bar" which not only had no name and no real sign , but also great adult drink prices!'
Talked the bartender (who got a great tip) into giving me one of his bar mats, pictured above.
The next day we took the boat over to Inlet Marina, the cheapest place for fuel in St. Augustine.
Cruisers take note , the give you $0.20 a gallon of if you mention active captain.

Oh yeah, the waitress who also got a great tip, gave us a Beaches Bucket to take home.
ON the way home, we docked at the Conch House Marina and had their daily special,

Made me see Double.
The day ended with a gorgeous rainbow.
The Fort was closed, thanks to the closing of the government.
Hell, I din't vote for him, don't blame me!!
AFter a very enjoyable 4 days in St. Augustine, we loaded the boat on the trailer at high tide, and headed north to Joe Wheeler State Park, Alabama
Our last nite in St. Augustine, we move the boat over to Conch House Marina.
Check out the wood carvings.
Our slip at the Conch House Marina