On the Way

Well sorry for the delays but has been a VERY busy few weeks.

Got to Baltimore and worked on the boat for a few days getting it ready for the trip south. Splashed the boat (means we put it back in the water) on Saturday. Moved the boat to a local marina and worked on it for a few more days. Sonja's brother, Alex came in on Friday to help with the adventure. On Monday we had a very awesome visitor, Capt. Richard Warren, a certified instructor took us all out for a day of learning to be sailors. Out of all the money I have spent on this project, this was the wisest and most useful item so far. Captain Rich was an excellent instructor and we owe the success of this mission all to him, THANK YOU.

One last item to complete before the adventure begins. Our boat has to be renamed with the tradition and honor driven by centuries of superstition. Now you all know I am a Christian and there is only one true God but we are talking Neptune and Poseidon (Roman or Greek depending on your movie background) here. I did not want to take a chance. We got rid of the old name "Sunkist" (never to be mentioned again) and renamed "firefly" with all the pomp and circumstance required by law. It is done.

So, Tuesday morning, 6 am we are on our way south. Alex and I take off in firefly and Sonja in the car. Arrive 12 hours later at our marina just north of Norfolk, VA. A little pool time, some sleep and on the road again. By the way, I backed firefly into the slip like a pro, thank you Capt. Rich.

Next stop was on the Inter Coastal Waterway just south of Norfolk. Alex docked this time, like he had done it many times before, thank you Capt. Rich. A little pool time, nice dinner, little sleep and First Mate Sonja and I take the next leg 46 more miles down the ICW. Learned a lot about locks and draw bridges which we will be dealing with many times as this adventure continues.

By the way, Firefly is doing great. Those old Perkins turbo diesel engines are awesome. I still have a few things to sort out like the generator and propane and hot water but life is good.

Well that catches us up on the adventure so far. Will try to find time to keep you better informed but for now - it is what it is.

Greetings. A rough schedule is figured out at least till we get back in the water. Figuring out our day to day schedule will be impossible due to so many variables. Boating requires you to be very, very flexible. If there is too much rain you stay in port, too much wind you stay in port, waves too big you stay in port. Sometimes you just stay in port. Boating is tough.

Well looks like we are heading to Arkansas somewhere around June 12 and be there for Lincoln's birthday party on the 15th and Fathers Day on the 16th. Then rental car trek to Baltimore to put Firefly back in the water by the 20th so we can head south when Alex gets there on the 21st.
         Now in an ideal world we would simply throw a few constants in a few formulas and come up with an average speed of 8.4 knots and a fuel consumption of 2gph, plot that on a chart at 10 hours a day and wham-bam there is the route. OK now throw in current, wind, weather, traffic and you might be lucky to hit the first on time but do that for 10 days (computer predict in a perfect world) and you are Houdini. I'm not Houdini, I will be plotting day to day on where the next day will take us. So for the first day I hope to make it to just before Norfolk, VA