Hello, all: First, I would like to thank the list for all the help you have given us over the past couple of months. We purchased Tamara B, had her re-fitted, and upgraded to a very fine state! All with much help, advice, and personal visits from list members. Thank you all! Now we get to bring her home. Our planning for this phase was also much aided by list members' advice and admonitions. We are leaving by car on Friday, and making our way from NY to Anacortes, Washington -- 3 humans, and a cat! All possible charts, manuals, tools, personal gear shipped ahead... Sea trials, final yard Payola, all done by the 27th, we hope. We meet up With Captain Mike Maurice, of TWL-list fame, and head out of the San Juans, then south, and up the Columbia - Snake Rivers to Lewiston/Clarkston. We haul out there to a specialty trucker, who hauls Tamara B (we ride along in rental car) to Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin on Lake Michigan. Tamara is back into the water, where she stays! Up until recently, we had the chance of making the Erie Canal passage to the Hudson River. This was shot down by a one-week delay at the Yard. The Canal System closes November 3rd, and there is no way we could possibly make it in time. So we go to Sturgeon Bay anyway, and move south along the ICW, Ten-Tom, out at Mobile early November. We chose Sturgeon Bay as the trucking destination early on in our planning, as it provides 3 ways home via water. Also Sturgeon Bay is as far east as we can truck Tamara B, because of her 17'+ height from keel to pilot house roof. Turns out there are only 2 truckers in the country who could do the haul. Thanks to all of you who helped in that phase of the planning!! We will probably shoot through Fl. Up the coast and be back here in NYC by early December. Then the adventure really begins! :ooks like we will be doing about 2/3rds of the Great Loop trip Sort of in-reverse, but what do you expect from a couple of New Yorkers? :-) We will be signing off of the list in a day or so, and begin our 5-day trek across the country... We will have e-mail, and some connectivity along the way. We will be posting our progress on Tamara's website, as we proceed, and as we have the access to update. The URL should be below in our tagline. Thanks again for all your help... We'll be back again soon, except we will be "on the other side" when we do. Bob & Kelly -- --------------------------------------------------------- m/v Tamara B. Cape Elizebeth Me. http://www.tamara-b.org kelly@tamara-b.org bob@tamara-b.org ---------------------------------------------------------