I really appreciate all of the responses so far. I figured there would be some helpful folks who are familiar with a situation like this before. That's one of the great things about these forums, so thanks!

In light of what has been said, (and unless other opinions sway my decision and in consideration of all the work it would take to fix it), I've decided to give it a try as it is to see what happens.

I'll have the recovery boat waiting nearby and ready-to-go. [sm=drowning.gif]

If this float step placement doesn't work then I'll just have to take my time and repair it, so I may be looking for ideas on how to move a set of floats forward!