Good News

Yes, the good news is that we received our certificate of registration from Transport Canada and had the name Sun Spirit approved - good thing otherwise I would have to change the name of this blog.

The first task this week was to order vinyl letters and put the new name on the boat. It is a very easy process as long as you get the name straight - requires endless measuring if you are a perfectionist.

The second order of business was to visit U.S. customs to get a cruising permit which allows us to cruise in U.S. waters. Hopefully this is all the paperwork we need for this year.

Tomorrow it is grocery shopping, checking all fluids, filling up diesel fuel, propane and filling up jerrycans with extra fuel and water. 

The plan is to leave here Monday morning, depending on weather, and start our trip. We have to head north first up the St. John’s river to Jacksonville and then turn into the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) to journey south towards Miami.

The ICW is a series of connected rivers, canals, inlets and small lakes that run inland along the Atlantic coast providing a boating route protected from the open ocean. We will have to stop at the end of each day either in an anchorage or a marina. It may take a week or more to get to Miami and since it is our first time we plan to take it slow and enjoy the scenery along the way. Hope to share our progress with you next week.

By the way, it is the start of Spring in northern Florida with the deciduous trees and shrubs flowering and leafing out. Since horticulturists are unable to travel anywhere without taking pictures of plants, I will leave you with a few to cheer you up in the depths of winter.