It did not take the brains of an archbishop to work out that we would not be ready to depart Port Solent by the end of February, so a short trip to the marina office secured us a further month to complete our major work. We are just about complete now and are in the process of fitting the windvane steering system called a Hydrovane which will be our fifth 'crew member' and known as 'Steady Barker'; I believe this may have been the name of Mark T's first, or favourite, teddy bear! We are hoping that Steady Barker will steer for at least 2690 miles across the Atlantic, leaving the rest of the crew to do the 5 miles near the start and finish....It's supposed to be a relaxing break! Whilst Mark and I have been slaving away on deck in the bitter cold, Tracey has been doing her galley slave impression and, armed with the rolling pin, created a wicked homemade pie for dinner the other night. Excellent when washed down with several glasses of Australian Shiraz, as you do. So what about this coming week? Mark and I are off to Dartmoor for some backpacking across the wilderness with Tony Ball, an old school friend, and Tracey is taking a break in Yorkshire, prior to us all returning for the final couple of weeks work push in time for the Real Ale Festival in Port Solent starting on the 27th March, after which, we really are departing Port Solent as it's too damn expensive to stay here any longer! Should have bought a smaller boat....