Greetings,

I was going to do this update in the middle of February, but since this is a leap year, I could not pass up the opportunity to do the update on 29 February.

This update to the WEB page does not contain anything real new. By that I mean that most of the changes are updates or better pictures of sections already contained in the WEB page. There have been some changes made since the original pictures went into the WEB page, so I am attempting to bring them up to date. I am also changing the format of the dates on the different pages, and I have made some of the print larger.

Under the Construction and Projects page, I added a URL for the Hard Bimini Installation, but have no content in it as yet. That will be added in the next update. I also added some pictures in the Generator Installation Project page. These pictures were added because I moved the generator controls and guages from the cockpit to the aft cabin. I made that change, because it seemed like everytime I wanted to run the generator, the weather was not good. Now that problem is fixed.

On the About Dream Away page, I cleaned up a lot of the information and added more URLs. I will be doing more of that in the next few updates. It makes it much easier when I mention another place on the WEB page, or a product, to allow you to click on the URL, and go right to it. Doing updates of URLs' and links has become much easier for me since we purchased a new Verizon broadband card. The card we used to have did not have an external antenna. When I was at work out on the bay, and had some time, I was not able to get Internet connectivity with the old broadband card. With the new card and the external antenna, I can gain access to the Internet almost all the time, so it makes updating the URLs very easy and convenient.

I have also added more URLs to the Links Page page. On the Marinas and Yacht Clubs page, I added some URLs, but I am also adding the location of the Marina or Yacht Club to existing URLs. I am also planning to put a few words about each vendor, so you will have an idea of what the vendor does.

Under General Boat and Family Pictures pages, I have updated the Pictures Of The Cockpit and the Interior Pictures pages. There are new pictures of the binnicle and the instrument pod reflecting the changes there. The interior pictures show the inside of the Ice Maker, proving beyond a doubt that the Ice Maker works! There are some, who will remain nameless, who do not believe the Ice Maker actually works! Hopefully in the next update, I will have a new page under General Boat and Family Pictures that will be the Houston and Watergate Yachting Center page. I have decided to put the page there rather than in the Ports and Places Visited page.

Now for a bit of a family update. We had a wonderful time in Atlanta when we went there for the Christmas holiday. We had a great vist with Judy, Stacy, and Tina. After the visit, it was back to work for both of us. I am still driving the crew boat in Galveston Bay, and Kitty still makes the long commute into Schlumberger five days a week. The good news is that we are making progress on our financial goals. Our plan (Guideline) is still to go cruising at the end of this year, and we hope that it will happen.

I did go back to Placencia, Belize, at the end of January. It was a great trip and we found out more information to help Stacy make an informed decision about his business plans. I went for the express purpose of finding out if a boat with a six foot draft could sail up the Placencia Lagoon as far as the property at which we are looking. We had no trouble with the Lagoon, as we were able to get a six foot draft sailboat right up to the entrance channel to the property. The difficulty was the channel that we were assured was dredged to at least eight feet, and was not that deep. In a couple of places, calling it a five foot depth would have been a stretch. I communicated this information to the property agent, and he did not think it would be a problem to get the owner to dredge the channel to eight feet or more, if a sale was pending. While we were in the area, I also sounded out a channel into another piece of property at which we are looking, and it was at least seven feet all the way.

In March, I am going to fly to Tampa, Florida, to visit family and my sister. I also want to go by my Father's gravesite at the Bushnell National Cemetary. Kitty will be making a trip to Atlanta to spend time with Judy during Passover in April. Kitty and Judy are both looking forward to the trip. They hope to see the new aquarium during that time.

A big event for me will occur in April. In the first week of April, I will be performing a wedding on the Official Tall Ship of Texas, The Elisa. I will be marring two very good friends of ours who have known each other for over twenty years, and have been together for fifteen years. It was a real honor to have them ask me to perform the wedding. To legally perform the ceremony in the state of Texas, I had to become an ordained minister. This I have done. I was ordained by the Universal Life Church. You can now address me as "Reverand Captain Jim Kenworthy".

I have started one of the boat projects to which I was not looking forward. But, now that I'm into it, I don't think it will be as bad as first thought. It is the "stop the main mast sinking project". My masts are stepped on the deck, so there must be some kind of compression posts to force the load on the masts into the keel. My problem is that the two compression posts that I have for the main mast were sinking into the floor, and causing all sorts of additional problems. This past Tuesday, I cut away all of the floor in the area, and, as I thought the plywood on which the compression posts were sitting was rotten and being crushed. I have a plan to get the problem repaired, and I am going forward with the plan. In the next update, I will have some pictures and more on the progress. Stay tuned.

That is about all for now, we do hope that you are all doing well and please do stay in touch.

regards,

jimk

Member Seven Seas Cruising Association

WEB page http://www.dreamaway.net