Getting ready to head north.

It's getting near that time. The crew of Walkure are preparing for another journey. As things stand now, sometime after next Tuesday (weather depending) we will slip our mooring and start the long trek north. We hope to "cross our own wake" in Kingston NY sometime in June. We'll visit my son and my sister in NY, and then head for Cape Cod to see Bev's kids and grandkids.
Bev worked her last day at the hospital Wednesday. I've added a pic of her coworkers. Yesterday we had the bottom cleaned and if took the boat down the creek to run another test on the new engine. We were able to do 5+ knots, even into a head wind. The new engine has a smaller diameter prop than the old and I was concerned it won't give the same thrust. The new prop, although smaller, is a 4 blade instead of the old 3 blade, so it should be adequate. On yesterday's run, it seemed to do fine. We could run at 4.5 to 4.8 knots with the engine at half throttle, so that's not bad.
We took Morgan to the vet for his first ever checkup. Here's a pic of Morgan meeting Dr. Jerri. Next week we are having a chip implanted so he will be legal in those states that require it.
This is the time of year that a lot of boats leave Marathon after wintering here. The mooring field is thinning out. Our friends Sande and Donnie on "Gypsy Cat" left a few days ago. Laurie and Paul on "Verkennen" tried to leave but had engine trouble and had to come back for repairs.
We caught up with Laurie and Paul Wednesday night at the Hurricane Bar for open mike night. I got up on stage for two separate sets. Carol and Pete from "Crazy Cat" gave us a ride to the bar and helped make up a great cheering section for yours truly.
Here are a few pics of the last week or so. The pretty blue and gold macaw is Pete, Sande and Donnie's bird who contributed the great feather on my hat. If you look closely at the picture of the boats you can see "Gypsy Cat" just approaching the red channel marker.
I've also included a picture of Wednesday night's open mike performance.
Our friend Kieth from South Pasadena is staying at a marina on the other side of the island and will be leaving here the same time we do. We will be leapfrogging up the coast and catching up with Kieth along the way.