We left a week ago Sunday and headed back to the boat which was tied up at Ronnie’s in Matlacha, FL. We stopped in Tampa for the night and had a visit with Ronnie and Karla.  Once we returned to ChrisJen, we checked her out to make sure everything was in working order. That afternoon Mike went a few houses down and spoke to a shrimper, who told him now was our best time to get out of the pass. We had no provisions yet so that was not possible. Tuesday morning we woke up and put our minds to getting the boat prepared and stocked. But, Mike could not leave without stopping at I Ragazzis’ and eating a Stromboli. The owner (Tim) stopped by the table to welcome us and sat down. We explained what we were doing and told him how much we enjoyed his food. He was so excited for us, he had the kitchen prepare and par-cook an extra Stromboli for us. That made Mike excited. We decided to wrap it in foil and place it in the freezer and will share with friends once we reach Bahamas. That evening around 7 was high tide. We gave it our best shot and came out the inlet with just a few scrapes on the bottom. It was just sand so it did no harm. We anchored right out of the inlet for the night, with a 25 to 30 knot wind.  Just to be on the safe side, since we were closer to the bridge then I wanted to be, we took 2 hour shifts, to make sure the anchor did not drag.  Left early the next day (Wednesday) to head across Florida to Stuart, to meet our friends from Vermont, Fran, Ken & Skipper (their Brittany Spaniel) who were waiting for us. It turned cold for Florida weather, but not as cold as the rest of the US.  Made it to Stuart that Friday night. The weekend was spent visiting with friends. We were going to head south Monday, but the weather was cloudy and rainy that afternoon. We headed out Tuesday morn. We are 3 s/v Chris-Jen (Lu & Mike), Release, (Fran & Ken), and Snow Goose, (Barb & Bill from Maine).  We all agreed to stay inside (intracoastal); the winds were not working with us.  We passed thru Lake Worth and saw some multimillion dollar yachts. WOW, were they ever huge.  Anchored in Lantana for the night. Woke up to a misty morning heading to Ft Lauderdale. Should be there this afternoon.  Will write again in a couple of days. Probably the morning we decide to head out across the ocean to the Bahamas. We have to waite for the right weather window. Later