Hard work on the hard

Miss Dippity is at Lee Spry Marina, a working boat yard. We've sanded, scraped, washed, and heat-gunned till our hands don't work. We're staying at the Victorian Inn in Iuka, Mississippi -- a quaint little place that has a gorgeous big white dog in the lobby and two friendly cats (one multiracial and one huge mostly Siamese). We couldn't stay on the boat because our refrigeration and our flushes are water-dependent (and it's a long climb down that ladder in the middle of the night!). We plan to splash on Monday, at which time we'll sport a new coat (or two) of bottom paint, a newly waxed hull, a newly replumbed emergency bilge pump, and hopefully a working oven....this may suck since the Admiral hasn't had to bake anything in the last 5 years! The fuel and water tanks will also be inspected and cleaned before we leave. We've had the use of a courtesy pickup truck, which makes it much easier to drive 20 miles to Iuka every night. Plans are to leave Tuesday morning for Bay Springs Marina, beginning our journey in the 30-mile divide cut canal of the Tom-Bigbee Waterway.