The morning was cold, but the sun warmed things up to the upper 60's in the afternoon.

Our first day as official Palm Coast residents was relaxed and what we hope someday will be routine.

Shubumi is still docked behind our house in Palm Coast. Tim, the fellow who is leasing the house from us, is very gracious about us living aboard the boat while we ready it and ourselves for the journey south to Miami and the Keys. We will sail south to the warmer weather of the Florida Keys and stay there aboard Shibumi until our lease agreement with Tim expires in June.

We started the morning with a walk along the Intra-Coastal Waterway, where we met-up with Walter and Elizabeth, a couple we be-friended when we first became interested in the area. After chatting with them for nearly an hour, we drove to breakfast at the local Cracker Barrel, then took my Jeep in for "routine" servicing.

In the evening we had dinner at my parent's house in Ormond Beach.

JANUARY 22, 2004 - PALM COAST, FL We started the day with a walk along the ICW.

After breafast, my mission was to clean Shibumi's neglected deck. While we were working in Atlanta and away from the boat, for the past year and a half, birds roosted on the mast and made a general mess out of the deck. Shibumi needed a good cleaning. It took several hours, but the ship now looks much better... more like home.

The Jeep service center called, and said the routine maintence was going to be a little more than routine. I should have figured.... with more than 150,000 miles on a vehicle one can expect things to happen. Today's servicing was minor thottle-body cleaning but more than I wanted to have done. Anyway, I intend to drive the 11 year-old SUV for another 11 years, so I told them to make it right. They did... and the Grand Wagonier now drives like new.

I bought a Porta-bote, at the Atlanta Boat Show. Porta-bote is a teriffic folding boat that we intend to use as a second dinghy. That way, neither Jill nor I should be stranded aboard Shibumi while anchored out in a bay somewhere if one of us is ashore with our main boat tender.

In Florida, if you intend to put an engine on a boat, it must be registered and taxes must be paid. We will operate the new porta-bote with an outboard engine... so off to the courthouse, checkbook in hand.

The day was more expensive than I wanted it to be, but through it all I couldn't help noticing that everyone I came in contact with was smiling. I think it was an involuntary reaction to the permanent smile that is my face now-a-days.