We are on our final countdown for heading off to Florida and then the Carribean! Pam's putting the final touches on a new bimini. I was rebuilding the head, replacing its hoses (they were 1 1/2" dia hoses but they had rock like stuff in them that constricted them down to only 1/2". And I replaced the last of the sea water cooling hoses, but then I came down with some really nasty crud... Nothing like being ill and not having a toilet! I should be back to work tomorrow. Should have the last of it finished this weekend or early next week.

We are going to leave on Nov. 2. We may just anchor out in the bay for a couple days just to relax. We'll be taking the Intercoastal Waterway from here to the east side of Louisiana. It would be longer and harder to sail offshore around Louisiana so we've decided to take the Intercoastal. The only thing that is a little concerning is getting past Galveston. Its still really trashed out from hurricane Ike.

I called the Coast Guard in Galveston and the guy said that the traffic on the Intercoastal looked normal and he also saw a few sailboats. So we should be good to go. A friend of ours was telling us about a friend of hers who was taking a Cape Dory from Florida to Texas. He got rammed by a barge that smashed ihis boat bits! There was an intersection on the waterway and the barge couldn't make the turn and smashed the sailboat agaist the side of the waterway. I think we'll pay close attention to traffic at intersections!

Since we are actually going to start travelling, I thought I would try my best to update the blog every couple days. We'll soon be on our way! Wish us luck!