With the difficult and time-consuming job of replacing the stem fitting (it supports the mast, so pretty important) done as of yesterday, we can now look forward to the relatively simple tasks of washing and waxing and polishing stainless steel tubing.

Diane has done a terrific job provisioning the boat and while we are cognizant of the effects of too much weight in the boat, the fact is that she will be our home for 6 months and we are not planning to 'rough it' for that amount of time.

One interesting note is that the first part of our journey will take us across Florida along the Okeechobee Waterway where a brige has a maximum clearance of about 49 ft. The actual clearance varies with the level of the water in that portion of the waterway (between two locks) and it is showing as 50.68 ft today (the Corps of Engineers publishes daily figures on its web site). I just measured the clearance we need to clear our masthead gear and it is 50.8 ft) It appears we can heel the boat a little with our dinghy hoisted off to one side and that will allow us to squeak through with the VHF antenna tinking the bridge (the antenna is flexible, so no worries there, we hope).

Less water means more height clearance, but also less depth for us to travel in. We need 5 ft of depth to have a few inches of clearance for our keel and rudder, and the shallowest known spot along the route has 6.7 ft, so we are good so far.

We are very excited for this adventure and hope you will enjoy following along. Our last post had a comment by our good friends, Kate and Dave, and their wish of 'brown voyage' was either a typo or a very clever play on the brown water we will find ourselves in much of the time in the ICW (Intracoastal Waterway).

Until next time.