The cruise of 2009/2010 is officially over.

We had Madcap hauled out at Tiger Point Marine yesterday afternoon. It all went well with very professional work by the yard folks. Bill (the owner) adjusted the sling so we wouldn't have to take down the radar pole and wind generator. My heart was in my mouth just in case the balance was thrown off but that man knew what he was doing and she came up level. Mike powerwashed off all the crud from the last 7 months in the water and she is now safely settled in a good sturdy cradle.

We spent the last several days unloading excess - clothing, parts, books, food, "stuff" that we had carried around "just in case", and disinfecting every surface and locker so there should be no growing things over the summer. The exterior wood has more coats of cetol, the stainless is shiny and we left pots of damp-rid and jars of mothballs all over the place.

We didn't have time to find the netting cover that some boats use, and our northern cover is much too heavy for this climate so we'll take our chances with the sun and see what happens.

We hit the road at 4:30 and will make our way in fits and starts northward to NS. We are currently driving a rental car (Maryland plates) that we're taking from Jacksonville to Boston for the princely sum of $12 per day. From there we have another rental from Boston to Halifax that will cost $18 if we can do it in one day. We hope all goes well getting across the border, because if we hit a snag in our plans we'll be like refugees waiting on the US side of the border for someone to cross over and pick us up (along with our whole mountain of assorted bags and boxes)!

I'll put up another post with statistics from the voyage. Once again, it has been a wonderful year!