Welcome to The Gulf Of Mexico

I made it here to a tropical climate in just short of a month. I now know why I could not find much information online. Other than Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer , I don't think anyone else ever completed the tour Sailing Down The River

At the first Marina a couple of guys who were delivering a new twin engine 35 foot boat to Miami asked if I would escort them part of the way. This was funny under the circumstances. I agreed to half a day and we set our route and travelled together. I took $70 Dollars of fuel they took $350 for the same leg of the trip. Size does matter I guess. I think I screwed up somewhere north of Tampa Bay as there is a miitary zone and jets seem to be flying with low altitude. I found a Buoy on the charts and set y GPS for open watersand avoided Tampa Bay . Once again the GPS xame good after several miles I saw the marker on the horizon "Whew!" What a relief. When I arrived at the Punta Gorda Fishemens Village in Charlotte Harbour. I told the Harbour Maser I wanted a slip for the year. She replied " What makes you thin you can have one for the night? " Eerything worked out ,she had one spot on C Dock that was too shallow for larger boats so I settled right in.