This morning we have to get off the mooring that we are on as the space is slated to be part of the in water boat show. Boats won't be on the mooring but they will be constructing a series of major floating docks right out to where we are which is about 200 meters from the shore. Fortunately there is a large powerboat christened Liberty on a mooring that is outside of the docking template who were kind enough to allow us to put a dingy on it last night, to sort of say "Claimed!" Now we are waiting for them to depart which they have to do by noon. They told us last night when we put the dingy on it that they would be departing around ten-ish so we are sitting in the cockpit at a quarter to ten waiting for some sort of movement.

Halejulia! When they say ten-ish the meant it! Precisely at ten they were away and by 1010 we were in their place. The water around the mooring hadn't even had a chance to cool down and Liberty's crew was kind enough to drop the mooring bridle directly into the dingy. Then I towed Sampatecho's dingy back to them with grateful thanks. We might have been able to do it without their help since we poised in the starting blocks, but with the dingy in place it virtually guaranteed the spot. In fact I suspect that there might have been a number of boats that didn't even think about it since they saw the dingy tied to the mooring, except for one guy who had come out in his dingy in the morning and was still trying to get off his mooring to race us to the ball. Hee! Hee! Hee! We beat him to the punch!

By 1400 we had been on the mooring for a while, we had been ashore to watch the serious business of coordinating egos to get people off the waterfront so that the city can begin to put the boat show docks and stuff in place, we had done a laundry and we had come back to discover a major traffic jam at the dingy dock exacerbated by the fact that there were about thirty 40' logs rafted together that are destined to be pilings for the temporary floating docks for the show. Necessary but definitely in the way of boaters trying to access their dingy. I guess with things of this magnitude staffed by professionals and volunteers stuff will happen. It has been fascinating to watch as barges and floating docks are appearing from everywhere and are shoved into the waterfront. The truly interesting thing is that the docks are constructed around boats as they arrive for the show. That is, a boat will have dock on all four sides and then another moves into place and is boxed in all in turn. Meanwhile on shore tents, booths and concession stands are being constructed. The next three days, we are told, will be a madhouse and the show will gradually move out into the mooring field so by the end we will be two Mooring balls away from the display. Ever neat! Almost worth the cost of the mooring for the week.

So. Now for the first time I feel more relaxed. The boat is on a sound mooring. The solar panels and wind generator are keeping the battery charged and we have some time to work on boat-y projects:

- the aft head. Fortunately we have two.
- the radio
- the ship's computer

are the main ones that I would like to wrassle into submission and there are still three days before the boat show VIP day begins.