The Newest Adventure Begins

The newest adventure begins. We’ve been on board for over a week and we’ve completed several projects that had to be done before getting underway. Most important, we installed the new arch that will support the solar panel(s) over the bimini. We had it built in Bowling Green and we rigged a way to carry it on top of the car for the trip down. We got lots of strange looks from our fellow travelers on the interstate. Miracle of miracles, the installation went as planned. There was a minor mismeasurement and a minor miscalculation, neither of which caused a problem. Then, we replaced the propane stove with a new one. There was actually nothing wrong with the old stove, but its burners simply didn’t put out enough BTU’s for our culinary preferences. We also put up a new light fixture and a new spice rack in the galley. Peter built them at home and they went up without a hitch.
The biggest project was stowing all the provisions we brought for the trip; home grown potatoes, countless cans of tomatoes, soup and ingredients for Thai cuisine and Indian curry. Most important of all, the equivalent of 16 cases of wine and a few bottles of rum. The rum will probably be gone before we get to the Bahamas, but it’s cheap over there. While we had the lockers empty, Peter ran wires for the stern light and fished them through the arch.
Now, we’ll wait for weather. As soon as we get a few days of sunshine and temps more to our liking, we’ll head south. First, we’ll probably go to St Augustine, about 24 hours down the coast. We really like St A and may spend a couple of days there. On the other hand, we may rest up and head for Ft Pierce, another 24 hours down the coast. After that, Ft Lauderdale and maybe Miami. Everything, of course depends on the weather.