Those of you who do much sailing and anyone else whose lives revolve around the weather systems know as well as I do that despite their best efforts and intentions the weather departments simply cannot reliably forecast with any degree of certainty much beyond 72 hours into the future. For us, right now, it looks like our hopes and plans to be away on Wednesday won't be happening unless we would like to have winds of 25-35 knots on the nose. Instead it now looks like a late Thursday departure is more likely.

Actually, this might turn out to be a good thing as our readiness preparations aren't going as quickly as I had hoped. We will still get the house closed up on Tuesday (tomorrow), but there will still be some work to be done transferring foodstuff from the fridge and pantry to the boat. The weather system that is delaying our departure will allow us to do that in a calm and unrushed fashion.

I also have plans to take Barb to a real movie in a theatre as a treat for all the crazy work she has been doing over the last couple of days, prepping for our cruise, as well as a diner we are having for some friends, helping with the move aboard, and doing the lioness's share of closing up the house.

Leaving the homestead is always a worrisome thing to do. I, at least, am always worried that something might happen while we are away, or there is something important that we had forgotten to do. Fortunately for us we have always had some friends who have agreed to look in on the place on a regular basis. This is vital for not only my own peace of mind but also satisfies the insurance company's requirements for not abandoning the residence. For this cruise our friend and neighbour, Bernie, will be not only looking in but has also agreed to use our snowblower to clear the driveway for us. Great to have friends, eh?