Well its been a long time since we were on the water, and it's almost half way through summer. We still make excursions onto the boat pages of the internet to dream, and to find our perfect yacht. We still are waiting for a buyer for the house we have to sell before we can even think about a purchase, but that doesn't stop the search. Just recently we have started to become keen on Island Traders, 38-40 ft jobs. They're another boat out of the Taiwan stable, but we seem to like these far eastern boats, and the prices seem much more in our league, that is under $50'000.

Today, when we got back from work we had an envelope, a big one through the door that was our manual and harbour guide for our sailing holiday that we have booked for September around the Greek island of Kefelonia. We have booked ourselves a Beneteau 32, which we will sail all by ourselves. It's another step up for us, in size, and has roller furling mainsail which we are keen to try out. All the old sea dogs seem to poo poo this kind of new innovation but it sounds like a lot less work to me and it's progress. At 63 I don't have the strength I used to have and anything that makes life easier sounds fine to me. Just getting the brochure through the door has put a smile on our faces, September isn't that far away. Mind you it's been a while since we did any sailing, or chart work, bouy recognition or the rules of avoiding collisions at sea, but hey, surely it's just like riding a bike.......................maybe.

Where we work, which is a developing public park has been very busy this year. We're spending oodles of funding on a new office building, and on a massive natural play area. This work has consumed our time and focus and led us away from our passion and our dream, but we always knew that this last year would be this way. It's exciting seeing 10 years of process finally coming to fruition and it's going to be strange to walk away from all this just as it begins to enter that self sufficient stage that we always wanted it too achieve. However our minds are made up and we know we will leave the place in good shape to face the future. Our future is sailing into the sunset.

Come next Spring we will leave our jobs here and head for the Dominican Republic to start a new phase in our lives. Now the closer that gets the more scary it becomes. Do we sell the house? Well we've looked at the figures and see no alternative, we have too big a mortgage to keep it. But we could try renting it, just in case it doesn't work out. We have to contemplate getting rid of our possessions, although we don't have much we would want to keep, in fact nothing really. But we look at downsizing, just to keep a bridge open, then dismiss it, then come back to it. What about our old age when we need the services of the free NHS in the UK. All these things weigh heavily on our ultimate plans, and we get cold feet, but not for long. What we want to do is to adventure and damn the consequences and just to hope that all will go well and something will turn up to see us through. Blind faith and optimism is all we have, but perhaps thats all we need. For now though we're just scanning the Sailing holidays manual and harbour guide and looking forward to that next step in our adventure that continues in September.