Take to boat to Lake City, MN. Have it put in there and play on Lake Pepin
for a few days to get the bugs worked out and get familiar with the handling
of the boat. There are two marinas there...one north a couple of miles
(Hanson's Harbor) and one right in town (City owned). Only about an hour or
two's drive from Dodge Center with the trailer. Or you could go to Wabasha,
MN and put in there. There is at least one marina there too. Wabasha is
south of the lake, so that may not be as good a place to put in for your
first time.

You should be able to hire someone to haul it to the river for less than
buying a truck. It isn't that far.


"SharewareRadio.com" wrote in message
...
Hi,

Sorry to bother you guys but I haven't been able to find much
information in other places.

I am an American who lives in both Finland and Guatemala. Usually at
this time of the year we would be preparing to go to our home in
Guatemala for the summer once school gets out here.

However I've always dreamed of spending time on a houseboat cruising
around the Mississippi river so I just bought this:
http://tinyurl.com/32ukra

The boat is located in Dodge Center, Minnesota. My 15 year old son and
I already had airline tickets to Fort Myers Florida. We will be
arriving there about the 15th of June.

We have no real boating experience. I was a Radarman in the Navy so I
had some experience with navigation and rules of the road.

First of all we want to do the online America's Boating Course. This
page says there is an online version:
http://www.americasboatingcourse.com/

But I can't find it.

Next I haven't been able to find a good online source to Marinas so I
can figure out where to go from Dodge Center, Minnesota.

I was wondering if the Skipper Bob's Cruising From Chicago to Mobile
would be useful.

Also what to do about internet access? I saw the post in here about
WiFi. Are there other options? Do marinas charge extra for this?

Not to mention the dilemma of getting the boat and trailer from Dodge
Center to somewhere. It appears to me that maybe I should buy a cheap
used pickup in Florida and drive to Minnesota to both save on the
airfare and get a rust free vehicle.

Then if we survive the month or so where to store all of this stuff..

Thanks,
Mike Dulin