The question became - how to start a journal.  Well, this would be a journal about going down the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW), of course, and how to keep in touch with friends and relatives, etc.  So with the help of son-in-law, Greg, we now have this blog and Skype, in addition to phones, computers, etc., etc.  So here goes...
     This is not a lifelong ambition for either of us, but we've gone down the planning path too far to back out now.  My husband, Bob, certainly wants to do this trip more so than I, but it will definitely be a great adventure.
     We started seriously talking about this trip among ourselves for about a year.  After all, if you buy a 42', two-bedroom, two-bath boat, it seems to me that you should do some major traveling with it.  Lena Victoire, named after our Grandmothers, is a 2003, 42' Grand Banks Classic that we purchased in 2010.  Bob has been diligently planning this trip since January, 2012.  I think we have purchased every ICW chart book, Skipper Bob book, books on anchorages, marinas and every waterway guide imaginable - in addition to driving our friends nuts with questions.  Bob has compiled a travel spread sheet with more information than is practical to list here, and we both have three-ring binders with categories for every possible detail for leaving our home for nine months.
     I read once in one of our many references that more women who spend a lot of time on boats are most afraid of drowning.  Well, that's not my major worry.  Nope - I worry about looking stupid.  So, it's ok if I drown, as long as I look good doing it!  So, I will worry about encountering tugs and barges, things like 9' tides and staying afloat, and currents that will sweep you out to oblivion, but not drowning!

     So this is the beginning of this "journal".  Our departure date is Monday, October 8, and we are in the final stages (throes) of planning and stuffing the boat till it creaks.  Must sign off now as I see I am expected to be present for another "boat meeting".