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| Left on February 14, 1991 while it was still dark. The idea was to get south of Washington, D.C. before the morning traffic. We were well past Washington when the sky began to lighten. A quick stop for coffee and Kaz, my shipmate for this trip, took over the wheel. Kaz and I had planned a two week trip to the Everglades where we would launch my sail boat, the "Sanity," into the Everglade's network of bays, rivers, and creeks. These are the dark, brackish waters that combine the saltwater of the Gulf of Mexico with the freshwater that flows out of the "Great River of Grass" which is the Everglades. There were two main reasons for the trip. First, to escape Washington's cold February weather and second - well, the second reason can be understood clearly when one picks up a map or chart that shows the southwest tip of Florida and scans the vast network of islands and waterways. The immediate response is one of a great potential for "adventure." |
| There are 1200 miles of road separating Gaithersburg, Maryland, home of the Sanity, and the U. S. Park's ranger station at Flamingo, Florida, which is at the very tip of mainland Florida, our overland destination. Our plan was to "mad dog" all the way without stopping. The Chrysler van had back seats that converted into a bed for the "watch below." The Sanity, a 900 pound, 21' Bay Hen, trailerable sailboat, was trailing behind, behaving very well at 65 miles an hour. This, of course, is the secret of such trailerable boats - the capability to get to any body of water at over ten times hull speed. |
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A slight mishap along the way ... remember that spare! |