My apologies to anyone who has e-mailed me; I've been offline for two or three weeks and am still sorting through too many e-mails (from the Tartan list mainly). ************ Congrats to the new owners and sorry to see Clarence has his boat for sale. Clarence, I hope all is well with you and yours. ************ Busca is nearly ready to go; a few odds and ends. The wiring has been re-done. Probably not any better than before but at least it's my mess instead of someone else's so it should be easier to diagnose future problems. Hopefully I'll get some pictures tomorrow. I picked up the new boom tent just tonight and will set it up tomorrow to check the fit. I gave the canvas guy some polytarp patterns to make it from. Pictures to follow. Hopefully I'll hit the road tomorrow afternoon for the trip north. I'm still planning on launching at Little Current on Manitoulin Island and, depending on how cold it seems (water temp in northern Lake Huron hovering between 38 and 39 degrees (brrrrr) I'll base my route on that. Water in the North Channel is nearly 10 degrees warmer. Air temps during the day seem to be running between 60-70 on shore, cooler on the water. Will be bringing cold weather clothing! If things look good, I'm thinking a clockwise trip around Manitoulin the first week and then the second week bumming around in the North Channel trying to avoid those rocks. :o) ************ Solar shower upgrade: I don't recall if this topic has come up before, but a nice upgrade for a solar shower is to replace the green push/pull nozzle with one such as is found on many sinks. The kind that is on a hose that you pull out to wash dishes with. I bought a nozzle with hose attached, cut the hose on the solar shower about an inch from where it leaves the elbow on the bag, then stuck the brass male fitting on the end of the sink hose into the end of the solar shower hose and put a hose clamp on it. Much nicer nozzle with one-handed operation allowing more efficient use of water. Getting back to packing now.... Tod