It's been a while since we've updated our blog, however, that's about to change as we are finally only a few months away from really going cruising. No more cold, dark, damp winters in the Pacific NorthWET. Our plans to leave in 2008 were foiled by the downturn in the economy not to mention our life savings. No thanks to "W" for that! But making lemonade out of lemons, we've definitely enjoyed the extra few years hanging out with friends and family...and that will be the hardest part about leaving. Here's hoping that many of you will come to visit us in various locales as we cruise.

We plan to update our blog more frequently now to keep you up to date on boat projects and final cruise prep as we get ready to leave Seattle. Once we are cruising we'll be posting our locations and what kind of adventures we are having along the way. So stay tuned and come visit!

The past week the sun has been out in Seattle, which has been a nice treat. But the temperatures have been down around 17°F at night and mid 20°'s in the day...Brrrrr! Although our Passport 40 is cozy and warm inside, the cold outside temps are all the more motivation to kick us into cruise-prep mode as we get Due West ready to head south this year.

But first we'll head north and cruise the San Juans, Gulf Islands, and Desolation Sound for most of July and August, before heading back to Seattle in September to make final preparations for heading south.

We are not taking the traditional southern route of sailing from Seattle to Mexico and beyond (or not.) We've decided to truck Due West to Florida, and set sail for the Caribbean from there, since the Caribbean is where we most want to hang out for a couple of years. We'll see which way the wind blows us from there -- our current plan is to sail across the Atlantic to the eastern Med, and explore Greece and Turkey. But like all good cruisers, our plans are written in sand at low tide, so you'll have to check back here often to keep up with our adventures.

This photo of our transom shows one of our most recent boat projects: moving our backstay chainplate from inside the transom to outside the transom. [For our land-lubber friends and family, the backstay helps hold the mast up.] This was done for a couple of reasons: the previous method of attachment caused the deck to pull away from the transom, meaning we had to repair and strengthen the deck/hull joint in the backstay area. Having an exterior chainplate will also make it easier to keep an eye out for corrosion (luckily we didn't have any of that.) We are waiting for warmer weather to re-install the missing piece of teak cap-rail. Then along with our freshly painted transom and shiny new chainplate, the aft end of the boat will look almost brand new.

Before we put our Due West boat logo and hailing port back on our shiny new transom we'll be installing our Monitor wind vane. Then we'll see where/how/if the boat logo will fit around that and still be readable.

Our new dodger and bimini will be installed soon. Other upcoming projects include: finishing the autopilot installation; installing our SSB (and taking our HAM class/exam!?); installing solar panels and inverter; installing new radar/chart plotter; installing our watermaker; and lots of other admin details such as choosing a trucking company; finding a long-term storage solution for the small amount of possessions that aren't going cruising with us; automating all our mail/bill-paying/finances, etc., the list goes on. Oh, and selling our cars! Not sure what the market is like for a Subaru Outback in Florida? Stay tuned...