Carrabelle, FL - 1/12/11

A nice lazy day but pretty chilly outside. We did our laundry at the marina laundromat and I walked to the ACE Hardware store across the street from the marina. When we were getting ready to leave Port St. Joe I had put a small heater on the helm to warm it up but the 50 amp splitter to twin 30's couldn't handle the extra load since all 3 heaters in the boat were also running and it flashed and all the wires in it were burned. The hardware store did carry some marine parts but not the splitter I will need on the rest of the trip. Seems that 90 percent of the marinas that we have stopped in require this splitter and do not have just 30 amp service. Tonight is supposed to be cold again, in the mid 20's and only mid 40's tomorrow. It sure will be good to get further south. I did make reservations in Marathon for later this month for a couple weeks. Tomorrow I plan to check all the engines out for the anticipated crossing later this week. Yesterday we met Buddy here at the marina who is the undisputed expert for picking the crossing day and he thinks it may be as soon as Friday so all the boaters will meet with him at 10 a.m. Friday morning for final decisions.