08/28/2008, Halifax, NS
August 27 2008 0830
I'm sitting in the Olympic Laundromat on Chebucto Road with 4 loads of wash agitating away - my head is equally agitated so I thought I'd put a few thought s down for the blog. I truly believe that I have done all that I can to get ready for this adventure - if not, so be it! There have been so many changes in the last 5 years as our preparations have been made. We sold the house in Tantallon and lot of excess worldly goods including the van and moved downtown to a 2 bedroom apartment within walking distance of the offices. Then 2.5 years ago we moved to my family home on Allen Street after Mum and Dad moved to a nursing home. With that move I packed 95% of our possessions and we moved them to a stuffed UHAUL Storage unit in the north end. At that point Mike really stepped up the boat prep and has spent the last 2 seasons replacing and adding safety and electronics equipment, a freezer and a watermaker. We have stuffed ourselves with Canadian Power and Sail Squadron courses in the meantime. Then the BIG changes: my Dad passed away, Mike's Dad suffered strokes and falls, I was laid off in May after 10 years with the same firm, Christopher moved to Drumheller , Alberta, working for Corrections Canada, I put my family home up for sale, I went through 80+ years of accumulated stuff in the house and proceeded to throw out, give away, sell, and pack some things for further storage (more than a few tears were shed, mostly of frustration), we helped KT move to her apartment, and finally one month ago my Mum passed away after a long battle with Parkinson's Disease. Now the house has been sold and I winnowed down our clothes and books and my craft supplies to those that are needed on the boat and all else is in storage (we are up to two units that you could get nothing more than a toothpick in at this point - I wonder what our situation will be when we come to empty out the units?). I have provisioned the boat and taken inventory, hauled Al and Peri to the vet for their Health Certificates and last shots, I finished sewing the bridesmaid's dress that KT will wear in her friend Nadine's wedding in October. It is no wonder that when folks say "You must be soooo excited about your trip!" that I stare at them like a deer caught in the headlights and say that I have hardly had time to think past the to-do list.
Well - short of finishing the laundry, filling the safety deposit box at the bank and taking the car for pre layup servicing the list has dwindled to .... NOTHING.
Mike is finishing his pared down list of boat tasks today , Pat and Lisa are bringing their gear aboard tonight and then we can finally start on the course plans that Mike laid in over the last winter - right after the retirement roast at the club .
What will I miss you might ask? Being in frequent contact with the kids, seeing familiar places and friends, 2 weddings that KT is bridesmaid in, and let us not forget the annual Christmas baking of scads of favourite cookies - oh yeah - having a bath tub to soak in.
I won't miss the office politics, thoughtless and rude drivers, being driven by a to-do list, shovelling snow and breaking ice, and heating and lighting a house.
Most importantly here is what I am grateful for - my parents are no longer suffering the indignities of combinations of cancer, COPD, and Parkinson's Disease; our children are capable and self-sufficient; our meagre finances are being well managed by the RBC; we are relatively healthy and pretty fit for creaky 52 and 57 year olds; we have a safe, sturdy, and well-equipped boat.
I'd like to make note of a few people who have helped us - the ever patient and reliable staff at the Binnacle, Dave Hickey of DRH Canvas and Marine for his skilled craftsmanship that keeps us dry and out of the sun in the cockpit, Chris Cavell at Canalian who rebuilt the anchor windlass twice, Kevin Marsen at MarineNav for the Leviathan computer, Eric at Victory Sails; Rosemary, Shawn and Ian at the Royal Bank; Rebekah and Bianca at Cox & Palmer; Martin Jones; Bryan Regan at Bryant Realty.
Well, the laundry is now dry so I'm off to the base to pick up Mike (it is pouring buckets) and return to the Nelleke. My next entry will not be for a week or so - I wonder where we will be?
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Comments [1]
08/27/2008, At the Dock
First. This will be the last post for a couple of days, at least until Saturday or Sunday. I will be turning in my computer this morning and as the internet connection at the club is unreliable it would be best to simply assume that there won't be any postings until the wekend.
We got most of the final stages of the watermaker install done last night, at least the last part where I have to crawl under the floorboards to do it. In my mind and heart I am still an 18 year old but sadly the rest of the ol' carcass profoundly disagrees.
I have the autohelm upgrade to finish (although that is something that could wait, and some small tasks; I have to fill the propane tanks; the water tanks; and bomb up with fuel. Our friends Pat and Lisa will be bringing their kit aboard tonight, although as they will only be with us for slightly more than a week (in spite of our strong entreaties) they shouldn't have too much stuff to bring with them.
Got my will written - damn, that sound awful!
I have to pay a brief visit to the liquor store for a rum run - the mainbrace has to be recharged - and one or two visits to other places to be seperated from our money.
The Admiral is doing last minute laundry, taking in her Dad's old coin collection to a dealer, and getting the car ready for "preservation".
I will be spending a "shortie" in at work, and will be back to the boat to try to get the auto helm done. Perhaps before Barb takes the car in I will get the propane done.
We are begining the seperate paperwork to track tha actual costs for cruising. In the past we kept books on boating costs, but now we want a seperate accountin for the actual costs to us from slipping the lines onward on a month to month basis. That is the purpose for this, our "maiden" cruising cruise. we'll publish the details in the blog when we're done.
Anyway. One sleep and a wakey......
Be seeing some of you along the route, I hope.
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08/26/2008, At the Dock
There certainly is a lot more to this than I originally thought.
The through hull for the water source was installed months ago when NELLEKE was up on the hard for the winter and we were able to install the pump and filter over the weekend. But the plumbing! Holy old moly, there's tubes everywhere! Plus there's the whole business of making the install of the various bits and pieces somewhere out of the way and yet accessible.
The attached photo is of the pilothouse cabin floor with the access hatches opened. At the top you can see Petunia Perkins, our diesel; and if you look closely you can see a pair of feet just barely sticking out from the floor to port. That's me installing the secondary filter in one of the less comfortable maintenance postions. I did discover that there is a lot of available space down there and the Admiral is making plans to fill it up.
Only two sleeps and a wakey left before we set off and I have been losing some sleep about all the stuff that I have left to do. Then, last night at about 2 in the morning I had what I call a gives a damn revalation. Nothing I have left do do is safety related. In fact it is all new. I have sailed without them before and I can again if I have to. I was finally able to sleep.
I have about 3 hours of plumbing left to do for the watermaker.
I have about 3 hours of improvements to do on the autohelm.
I have about 1 hour to do on the genset.
I have 1 hour to do on the comms station to tidy it up.
We have some small rigging adjustments to do and I'd like to bend on the No1 headsail before we start the trip.
We have to sort out and tidy up the cabin before Pat and Lisa can move aboard.
We need to replenish fuel and water and liquor cabinet. Food is already done.
Other than that we are about ready to go.
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