GTT

GTT stands for "Gone to Texas," and was the message left behind by a lot of the folks who migrated to Texas during the 19th century. Even though I'm from Texas, I think I can still use it when I leave here. That's because I've decided to make Texas my first destination. I'll probably take some interesting trips along the way, but I'll decide on those based on how this part of the refit goes and how she sails once I get her into the water.

Based on the work that still needs to be done, I don't think I could realistically finish up here -- at least not very quickly. Also, some of it depends on how she sails, which I won't know until get her out on the water. I'd originally planned on doing most of the refit in the Houston area anyway, but the oil spill put that plan on hold. However, it looks like the current and prevailing winds are pushing the oil away from the Texas coast on toward Florida, so I think it's safe to go to Houston later this summer.

Therefore, I'm going to place the final orders today, finish up the deck and cockpit lockers, then remount everything and put her into the water. There might be a few more things I'll need to do before I can leave, but hopefully I'll be able to handle all of that on a mooring. I think I'll probably be in a slip once I arrive in Houston, so I'll have power to finish up the refit, but that's not an option on a mooring. I'll also try to get my radio's working, but won't worry too much about that for now. If I stay close to the coast, all I'll need is my VHF and AIS. I still have my cell phone and computer with a mobile broadband modem, so I don't need to worry about having Winlink working yet.

The biggest things I still need to do are fix the toerails, remount some of the more difficult to get to deck hardware (can't seem to get anyone interested in coming way out here to give me a hand), redesign the cabin for mounting the radios, cabin heater, and chart table, and install an observation dome in the main sliding companionway hatch. The toerails, deck hardware, and cabin redesign will have to wait, but I might get to the dome and at least figure out a temporary solution for the radios before I launch. I'm going to punt on the cabin heater for right now -- won't need it in Houston till around December anyway. I never could get it to work correctly. It always smoked really bad and kept filling up with soot.