Preparing for trip to the Keys

I've been doing lots of prep to get Tardis ready for a hop from her home port of Niceville, FL down to Marathon.  I have 5 glorious weeks off on paid leave, and I fully look forward to my first long distance trip. The boat is as ready as I want to get her, and packed as much as I think I can bear.  My 8' dinghy fits a bit cattycorner on the top of the doghouse, but overall it is decent and still possible for me to get around.

I am bringing 4x6 gallon water jugs and one each of 5 gallons of ethanol free gas and diesel. I went through my entire solar bimini structure and removed all of the tiny set screws and drilled holes to replace them with stainless pop rivets.  I was a bit concerned that a set screw would let go with catastrophic results.  I took the spare solar panel off the aft of the bimini and davits.  I only used that to charge the starting battery anyway.

I've packed a good bit of food. I love my cheeses!

 Notable is my supply of roots: potatoes, yams, onions, carrots, daikon, ginger, garlic, shallots.  I have enough to last me quite a while, and hopefully it all lasts a while without going bad.

I bought way more snacks than I ever usually buy.  I expect that I will be in many situations where I don't feel like cooking, or I don't want to use the water.  I also have staples like rice, pasta/sauce, rice noodles, soups, broth boullion, canned fruits and veggies.  I bought meat for more than a month and bagged it into single servings.

Basically if it doesn't easily go bad, and I would eat it normally) then I bought it.  I certainly won't starve, but everything I have bought thus far has a shelf life of a few months.  I will go shopping again soon for perishables like fresh fruits and vegetables, and a separate trip for meat.
I'm excited, but currently the weather is forecast to be flat seas and no wind on my anticipated day of departure.  I might just have to motor a while, but it will get me well offshore and into deep water by sunrise so I should be in a better position in the case the weather turns foul.
I will try to update the blog throughout the trip, hopefully all goes well.