A voyage of a thousand miles begins with a few screwdrivers and wrenches... The weather this morning was chilly for Florida. The NOAA marine weather radio called it 45 degrees F (7 Celius) at Daytona Beach. This is the type of weather that motivates me to climb aboard Shibumi and set sail to the south. We have not made a decision as to when to leave for the Bahamas this year. We have a few obligations in December and early January. I would think as soon as they are fulfilled we will untie the dock-lines and set a course for deeper into the tropics.

This morning Tom, an electrician, visitied Shibumi. He installed a new electrical power monitoring system. The old monitor was cantankerous and was more of an annoyance than it was of service. Tom is also rewiring the cockpit to better accommodate the GPS navatigation system. Tomorrow we will work on lights at the top of the mast and unstick the wind sensor up there.

I think I have the minor problem I was experiencing with engine, last spring, under control. We will have to take a brief shake-down cruise to St. Augustine and back to see how she acts with a load on the engine. We will do that sometime before Christmas.