Preparation

Our departure is now about three weeks off and Christmas is in there too!  We hope to have all preparations made and move aboard by December 29.  We will then leave as soon as weather permits.  I hope we get some calm days so we can do the first leg offshore, but if not, we can go via the ICW in nearly any weather.  The first two nights we will be anchoring and since DUBHE does not have any heat when away from the dock, we will hold up if the weather is too cold.

Our destination is the Florida Keys about 700 miles away via the Atlantic ICW, the Okeechobee Waterway, and the Everglades.  With a boat that only goes about 7 miles per hour, the voyage is the objective, not really the destination.  We expect to see a lot and meet many new friends along the way.

In a way this part seems too easy and like it is not really going to happen...a little on the surreal side. Thirty years ago Nancy and I with our 9 month old baby, Brendan, left Savannah, Georgia on a 30' sailboat bound for the Bahamas.  I feel so fortunate to have the health and boat to do it again (without a baby this time).  It is something I have pondered for all these years and it is only three weeks away.

Rikki Tikki Tavi in Turners Creek 1983

Nassau to Berry Islands 1984

I replaced the shaft seal in the main hydraulic steering pump and seem to have resolved the electrical issues that came up during my return from Rockville last week.  So far, I have spent more time fixing things that have come up recently than, executing long planned preparations, but DUBHE is ready to go and we will be too...whatever it takes.

We have been asked many times about the name of our vessel.  DUBHE is the pointer star on the Big Dipper,  and it is the yellow star on the back of the Greater Bear constellation. Check out http://www.constellationsofwords.com/stars/Dubhe.html

Well she was built in 1974 so I guess she could also be named for....

Our greatest challenge now is how to get all the stuff (clothes, food, beer, wine, spare parts, tools, books, electronic gadgets, personal items, cooking paraphernalia, and of course all the gear to make her go or stay put) on board and still have space to live.