Day's log for Monday, August 6th, 2001 - Flagler Beach, FL

I took time out to pay bills. This is a onerous chore - not because of difficulty paying bills but because it just takes time to do it. I tend to let these things hang over my head for a long time before actually doing it. I resolved to say "ok, I will pay the bills on Monday morning and not before and not after." This seemed to work. The matter did not "hang over my head" anymore. When Monday morning came, I sat down, gathered the materials, wrote the checks, then walked to the post office in town to mail them. It was done.

1030 - loaded 13 gallons of Freshwater

1103 - left dock

1152 - passed SM 815

1203 - passed under L.B. Knox Bridge

1249 - passed SM 820

1345 - passed SM 825

1438 - passed SM 830

1445 - passed through Memorial Bridge (Orange Ave)

1609 - passed SM 840

1659 - passed SM 845

1659 - passed through Coronado Beach Bridge

I called US Army Corps of Engineers for Florida today and got information for a Lake Okeechobee passage. The locks are operating on restricted hours but it is possible to pass through Lake Okeechobee and come out at Ft. Myers. The water is at a "navigation depth" of 5 ft - just enough for the boat.

1809 - passed SM 850

1916 - passed SM 855

1953 - had first visual of the huge Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center

2018 - passed SM 860

2019 - anchored just off the channel. This is just barely adequate but it would have to do. There had been no marinas for the past ten miles - just fish camps. Plenty of docks with "no docking" or "private - no trespassing" or the like. I sounded the water and found it 6 1/2 feet at both bow and stern. I thought it wise to check every hour until the tide turned.

2145 - took another sounding - the level was the same - but I noticed that there were a lot of green lights in the water. When I did the sounding the water around the weight and line glowed with a sort of a green fire. I saw a large fish or small shark swim by, outlined in green light. The dinghy painter lit up frequently. This was a bit freaky. I played with the sounder, dipping in and out of the water and found that the green occurs when the water undergoes some sort of turbulence.