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After a summer of boat projects, including removal of the teak decking, Francesca was again ready for a major trip. We decided to return to Central America and revisit the countries of the Yucatan Peninsula and also to extend the trip to include Roatan and the rest of Honduras' bay islands. At least that is the plan as of today. The boat is stocked for one year, but we have no itinerary.

Leaving Dock Holidays Marina at North Myrtle Beach, November 15, 2001, we had a terrific waterway trip to the Keys. The weather was perfect, the traffic considerate, Francesca was flawless, and so on.

After 9 waterways trips, we have learned a few things that may be helpful to someone.  First, we have entered as GPS way points, all of the swing and bascule bridges. Thus, it is easy to schedule our arrivals to match the bridge schedules. It eliminates a lot of waiting about or hard running.  Second, we use only the Danforth anchor in the soft mud anchorages from SC through north Florida, but switch to the Delta elsewhere. When anchoring, the GPS drag alarm is set the second the anchor hits the water, allowing us to set the GPS alarm tolerance to as little as 0.03 nm and assuring the earliest warning of a dragging event.  I humbly admit that we have become experienced draggers. Now, however, with a larger Delta and a bit more experience, we hope those days are mostly over.

Another something that is clear, but about which I have never read, is a shallow water effect. In water depths of less than 6 or perhaps 7 feet, such as is the case in much of the bay-side area of the Florida Keys, the hull pushes a higher hill of water ahead of the boat and the swim platform submerges.  The boat slows significantly and regardless of throttle position, 7 knots is all Francesca can muster. So, throttling back to about 1400 rpm maintains 7 knots, but reduces fuel consumption.

We arrived at Marathon, FL, November 25. Francesca had averaged nearly 100 miles per day with the exception of a 1 day stopover at Waterways Marina in south Florida. Marathon's Boot Key Harbor is now festooned with moorings. Some are private, many have been provided by the City with thoughts of control and revenue.  The fact is, however, that most the moorings are occupied with local boats ranging from dinghies to small sailboats, and junk. There is little room left for the cruisers and real revenue producers. From my perspective the City's desire to root