September 5th to 8th - This time has been spent getting the boat ready for the next part of the adventure. We'll restock, do laundry and clean. One day, we walked to Walmart for groceries and the Marina Harbourmaster kindly offered to give us a ride back. Thursday, we took the boat to Skyway Marine on the Calumet River to have the mast taken down. We spent the afternoon wrapping it ready for shipping. We had three bridge lifts on the way up and passed our first tow. Friday was a miserable, rainy day so we rented a car and did some other necessary errands - refilling the propane tank and buying a 'powerboat' antenna as well as picking up other last minutes things. Today we pumped out, fueled up and filled up the water tank ready to go.

Tonight there is a big party on the dock and we are invited. They have food and drinks and have hired a band! Some people started partying in the early afternoon! We are hoping to get away early tomorrow to begin the river system, so won't be staying up too late!