All hands on deck, we've run afloat!

Steel Magnolia is back in the water. The folks at Dog River Marina in Mobile have got almost everything finished and they are taking the boat out for a sea trial this very afternoon.

So Monday, the lovely Laura Lee and I are driving to Mobile to check it out. We’re carrying a bunch of junk down there to load onto the boat and, with any luck, I can get the boat out of there sometime next week. My plan is to get it over to Pensacola and leave it while I come home for some meetings and Easter.

The following Monday, hardheaded George has agreed to go back with me for the first week of the long trip to Savannah. He’ll probably stay on as we move to Panama City, Apalachicola, and then across the “Big Bend” of Florida down to Clearwater and Tampa.

I haven’t cruised in the Gulf of Mexico in about eight years so I’m excited to get back down to an area of many fond memories. There’s been much development and much hurricane damage since I last cruised there in the nineties and it will be interesting to check it all out.

The weather should be great this time of year, and Steel Magnolia should be much improved with stabilizers, a new electrical system for shore power, new toilets that really flush, and a new guest shower big enough to actually use.

I’ll keep you posted on our progress. 

Comments

[first mate Laura]

I wish I was there to go to sea with you and the steel magnolia! Maybe the next trip I can go too!
Laura