Another busy couple of days.

All sails are installed and ready to go.

All running lines are installed and tested.

Solar panels are fully installed and working.

Canvas is all in place.

The anchor chain has been checked and marked with tabs.

We found a great secure place to store the Mini for the winter nearby.

Louise made a wonderful dinner with local seafood.

The scheduled launch of the boat is at high-tide tomorrow.

I wonder if the diesel engine will start?

We hope to check everything carefully and then start offshore asap.

We also put in an offer on a house nearby.... such is life!

I should have some great photos of the boat in the water tomorrow.

bye for now!

glen

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After a day of rest, we spent this morning installing the rest of the solar panel supports, and the first two panels have been installed.

The SSB radio has been beautifully installed and is working perfectly. Now I need to learn how to use it.

I spent three hours dealing with US and Canadian officials trying to de-register and re-register my new EPIRB device. (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon). This handy device sends an emergency signal (when activated by me, or when placed in the water) which sets off the search and rescue teams which ensure safety at sea.
Hopefully we will never need to use it. Thank you Bruce and Andre for assisting with the EPIRB registration.

I am hoping to have the boat in the water within the next two days, and then we'll start testing all of the onboard mechanical systems: winches, toilets, stoves, engines, generator, sails, pumps, fridge and freezer, lights, instruments, etc, etc,etc..............

The weather is hot and blue skies all day. We hope that it will cool down somewhat, but we'll need wind from the south to cross over to the Bahamas soon...

All the best!

glen
ps. The photo is the EPIRB device

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Yesterday Louise and I spent another 5 hours at the boat, repairing the dinghy ( Thank you Ian for the patch kit/glue and new oar-locks) and the dinghy looks ready for a great holiday.
The newly created bows for the bimini arrived and we installed them so that the solar panels should be able to be installed on Monday. They look wonderful, but I have not yet got the bill ( there are more than 40 stainless-steel fittings involved) so it won't be cheap.

Marc-Andre has been busy roller-blading around town, and Louise has been purchasing assorted grains/foods for the next four months.

We've been looking at real estate and the prices are far below replacement costs.....and probably going lower within the next 12 months.

Blue skies, lot's of sunshine.... if the weather cooperates, we'll be in the Bahamas for Christmas!

A great start to a wonderful winter!

glen

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