October 10, 2013

We are leaving Tubac tomorrow and heading back to San Diego. As our responsibilities of care-taking fade into the background, the responsibilities of boat preparation take center stage once again. It is October 10th and our planned departure is just a little over two weeks away. And there is still so much to do. I swear, I think Jay and I take turns lying awake at night, going over the list. Last night it was my turn.

There are more spare parts to purchase. We need hoses for the head, a joker valve, a flapper valve and a new fresh-water pump - it is sure to break. We have to put up another mast step that I recently bought. The rails need at least one more coat of varnish and I'm not sure when we will find time to paint the decks with non-skid. (We've only been saying we would do it for a year now.)

On Monday, the riggers are coming to fix the battens on our mainsail and deliver our modified mizzen spinnaker.

There are seminars to take. Yup! I'm still taking classes. Downwind Marine, here in San Diego, caters to the cruising crowd and offers seminars almost daily during October. We are taking Offshore Communications with Shea Weston and Gordon West. We are also attending Terry Sparks' HF Radio seminar. And on Sunday, October 27th, I am driving to Long Beach to take Les Chesnau's all-day weather class. (I have taken 13 weeks of weather classes at Orange Coast College but that was several years ago. I am desperate for a refresher course and Lee Chesnau is the expert. Hence, I am willing to drive the distance.)

Then there are the social obligations that are adding up. The people we need to meet; the cruisers who, like us, are traveling south this fall season, the people we have already met; our dear friends who are traveling from all over southern California to bid us Bon Voyage, and our family; we are trying to spend as much time with as many family members as possible.

Oh, and then, later in the month, we will be traveling back up to Malibu for a few days. One more visit to the doctor and dentist, one more hair cut, close up the safety deposit box and stop by the storage unit. (Note to self, don't forget the keys.)

In all our reading and researching, no one could have prepared us for the amount of minutiae we would have to deal with. Our lives are so complicated! We've been calling credit card companies and banks to notify them of our travel plans. We have arranged our mail (sort of), set up online billing, applied for insurance, filled out forms.

Forms! Ugh, the documentation! Copies and copies of everything; boat registration and insurance, passports, driver's licenses, fishing licenses. And the lists! We have to have a list of every piece of equipment on the boat with serial numbers for our Temporary Import Permit. I still have to make a list of where everything is on the boat. And we have to complete a "€œDespacho"€ or Crew List form printed in Spanish.

Etc. Etc. Etc.

It's no wonder we're not sleeping. In fact, my last words last night before I finally fell asleep were, "Jay, do we have a sail repair kit?"

And the clock keeps ticking...