John reached the Sarasota Sailing Squadron around 6pm on July 28th in the middle of a thunderstorm. Charlie Ball and Bill Broker helped welcome John and made sure he and his boat were safe and out of the water. Charlie took John out to eat and dropped him off at the airport on Thursday afternoon. John thanks Hugh Horton in Cedar Key for putting him in touch with Charlie and Bill at the Sailing. . . read more

John crossed Tampa Bay this morning. It took him four hours to cross due to no wind and an outgoing tide. John stopped to rest and have lunch at Catcher’s Marina on Anna Marina Island. He will head toward Sarasota now. He plans to conclude this leg of his journey at the Sarasota Sailing Squadron. Yesterday (July 27), favorable winds and the tide carried John all the way to Egmont Key. . . read more

When we last left off, John was safe in Tarpon Springs and was waiting for Tropical Storm Bonnie to pass. Bonnie came through, but wasn’t as bad as John thought it would be. He is now on the Intracoastal Waterway near Clearwater/Tampa. Here is a detailed synopsis of the last week: July 21: John reached Shell Island in the morning (near the mouth of Crystal River) after a difficult,. . . read more

John slept on the boat the last two nights. He made it to Port Richey last night and then sailed into Tarpon Springs this morning. He is glad to be out of the Big Bend and off the water with Tropical Storm Bonnie approaching. He will update with more details of the past two days later. (map will be updated later as well)

July 16 – 19: Brittany Hailes of Ruckus Film visited John in Cedar Key. Brittany gathered film footage for her ongoing project about John and his journeys. Bob Treat rebuilt the blocks for John’s oar pivots and they installed them over the course of a couple of days. Bob also looked at the tide tables and charts with John and they determined that he would need to leave before dawn. . . read more

During our last update, John was feeling worn down and discouraged by an uncooperative weather forecast. However, John’s mood lifted yesterday when he met Cedar Key librarian Molly Jubitcz. Molly introduced John to Bob and Jeri Treat. Bob is a small boat builder and enthusiast. They also introduced John to Hugh Horton, a boat builder and author. John enjoyed dinner with everyone and stayed. . . read more

July 12: John was ready to get back on the water after a day of rest. Some storms came ashore and backed themselves up overland creating a north wind that he used to sails down Steinhatchee River and out to sea against the incoming tide. It took him an hour and a half to reach open water. By that time, it was high tide and John was able to make a line to the southeast without having to go out of. . . read more

July 8: John left the western edge of Alligator Point on Thursday morning. The wind completely died around 10am – the water was perfectly flat and he had to row for about 4 hours in 90+ heat with no clouds and no wind. He said that it was exhausting and that the heat almost killed him. The wind finally picked up around 2pm and blew him toward his planned destination: St. Marks Lighthouse. . . read more

July 1: Started rowing from Apalachicola in the morning before getting caught in a storm with lots of wind and rain. It circle around and he thought it was going to pass him, then it came back. He made it across the bay to a beach near the causeway bridge (on the western side of Eastpoint). He planned to try to make Carabelle in the morning before more storms arrived. July 2: John’s. . . read more

John made it to Port St. Joe from Panama City without trouble. On Saturday (June 26), he reached the eastern end of Mexico Beach and decided to anchor about 150 yards off of the shore so that he could try out sleeping in his boat. He woke up at sunrise on Sunday and sailed toward Port St. Joe. The wind died at about 7:00am and he had to row for four hours in 90 degree heat. He arrived at the. . . read more