We left at very early in the morning of Friday, October 30th for the Lester Pearson Airport. In tow we had two suite cases that needed to be checked as well as a new washing machine which could be checked as oversize luggage and a couple of backpacks full to be carried on. Upon arrival at the airport, the line for international check in was so long we could not see the end of it. Apparently, the self-check in kiosks were out of service. There were only a few of them that where working but not working well. We were lucky enough to get our boarding passes and bag tags printed. It did not give us the option to print a tag for the oversize bag so I just printed a regular tag....figuring they would correct it when we got to the checked baggage drop off. We were sent back into the never ending line with our luggage and boarding passes in hand. At some point they opened up a few more gates for people that had their boarding passes and luggage tags so over we went fully prepared to have a problem with an incorrect checked bag tag. Luck was on our side and the person at the counter was on her second day of work with Air Canada. We dropped off the baggage and she told us to take the washing machine over to the oversize luggage. We put it on the belt and that was it.....nobody asked about the incorrect tag. Then we were directed to the security check which were the line was so long you could not see the end of it. As we approached the first security people, we were directed to another line and to our surprise we were the first ones in that line. We managed to bypass the whole line and were right in front of one of the security screening.....took out our computers and show your boarding pass and we were in. Next stop the Prestige Lounge for some breakfast and internet while we wait for departure.
We arrived in Curacao just after three and went through Immigration and then headed over to get our luggage fully expecting an issue with the washing machine. The customs guy asked what we were going to with and so long as it was not staying in Curacao they sent us on our merry way.
We arrived in Curacao marine shortly after five and it was the last Friday of the month happy hour - free food and cheap drinks. We loaded the stuff into the boat, opened up the windows and did a quick check of the inside of the boat. Everything looked fine, so over to the Palapa for dinner and drinks. The next day the work would begin.

Stay tuned for life on the HARD!