It's the last day of January and we are actively planning our next adventure. We have decided to head for warmer weather that we hope to find on the west coast of Florida. Our tentative plans are to drive to Fort Myers, leave our truck and trailer there, and sail for the Keys via the 10,000 Islands region and the Everglades. I am considering trying to get out to the Dry Tortugas, a fairly long open water trip. From there we will try to head north on the Inter-coastal Waterway (ICW) past Miami to the point where the ICW crosses Florida heading back toward Fort Myers. We have blocked out the month of March for the trip. There are many interesting sites to visit as well as a number of friends with whom we would like to spend some time.
Panache has been spending the winter months in our warm shop where I have tinkering with various projects in preparation for our trip. I hung her from the steel beams while I repainted her bottom side with anti-fouling paint designed to keep marine growth from accumulating. I also installed a new water tank. The old tank developed a crack across the top and partway down the front side prior to our trip last year. I was able to partially seal the leak with silicone sealer, but I felt that it was a temporary fix. I replaced the tank with a triangular shaped bladder tank that fits nicely into the bow underneath our v-berth. The old tank was a 22 gallon tank and the new one is 30.5 so we will gain added range before we need to take on more water.
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| Panache getting ready for new bottom paint |
I also added a new 12 gallon fuel tank. Our old tank was working fine, however, in an attempt to gain more usable space, I had placed the old tank under the floor of the cockpit. That worked fine except I could not read the fuel gauge and adding fuel to the tank was quit a chore. This new tank is made out of nylon. I have plumbed a filler pipe from port deck and mounted an electric fuel gauge into the radio panel in the main cabin.
We have begun compiling a library of reference books, guide books and navigational charts for the trip. It is fun to browse these tools and gather potential sites to visit along the way.
