Ready to set out

Help - they continue to hold me prisoner! If you would just send $5.00 each I am sure that I could buy my way past the guards! If only I had thumbs, or pockets, or a forehead...

Do not let this picture fool you. Although it looks like I'm sleeping on a pillow, I'm actually posing for the evil doers camera. By the way - notice the most important electronic navigating piece of equipment behind me? Got to keep watching Survivor.

Two days before take-off picture of the boat.

This picture was taken especially by request of Alison. Sorry about the quality but the delay between pushing the botton and taking the picture is about 3 seconds.

Florida is beautiful with ugliness hiding behind the landscaping & security gates. Today we drove past the Red Sox training field (for Lanny & for Peter) We drove thru some scary, poverty-stricken areas of East Fort Myers- where you may have read they recently found 8 bodies buried- (CSI for REAL!)
Every evening since we got here, a sweet smell is everywhere- at the beach, in the city, at the marina. I found out it’s night-blooming jasmine.
So with all the gorgeous flowers & aromas&blue sky&dolphins& warm& miles of sugar-sand beaches- there are slums & VIOLENT crimes & drugs & bugs. I guess it’s like that everywhere- good & bad- but Florida seems to me to have EXTREMES of both.
I am so glad we did not move here- I would love to spend winters in Florida- but the culture seems tacky &fake to me.
The last 2 pm’s on the boat have been sleepless for both of us- Ken in the aft cabin with a VERY low ceiling & the AC blowing fiercely on his right side! Meanwhile- Cory & I are in the front V-berth, very hot & then cold (as usual)- but instead of a flat bed-my “mattress” is a mogul hill of lumps and bumps. Imagine a bunch of skinny bolster pillows abutting unevenly, then put an ill-fitting sheet over the whole thing. If I want a flat surface, I need to lie on my back like an Olympic luge person- but with a slight lateral bend!
Garth was right- we should have gotten the 40 foot boat!
Ken puts up with my griping and even makes chores like washing and waxing the plastic windows of the canvas fun! Love to all- Linda

Tomorrow - Wednesday is the day we leave! We gassed up today with 41 gallons at $3.13/g and pumped out. We are ready to go. We have planned the first lock to arrive about 1 hr. early - at 0900 hrs. It only opens 4 times a day so we can't be late. After that it is about a 65 mile day - transitting one more lock before arriving at Lake Okeechobee. We then continue down the south side of the lake to about 1/2 way where we spend the night at Roland Martin Marina - I forget the name of the town. The next day is the crossing of the lake.

Many, many boats are no longer able to cross this way because of the low water. I called the Army Corps of Engineers and the official height of the lake is 4.28 ft. There are areas of the channel where the depth is about 3' 6" - which is about what we draw. Everyone that crosses needs to pay real close attention. So - the next 2 days could be nerve wracking. But there is no time but the present - actually both Linda and I are getting a little tired of the constant sun and heat - everyday has been at least 85 and sunny. We are looking forward to Spring time weather. See you all tomorrow.