Preparation, preparation, preparation…

So you think of an appropriate date, check out the frequent flyer airmiles, book flights and hotel – hop over to Miami for a couple of (shopping) nights and then fly down to St Thomas. Simples…. assuming American Airlines don’t change the schedule (again).

Then quit work and get ready to go…. but OMG the lists are huge and what you think will be a five minute job turns into a two day trial of ups and downs as you hit proverbial brick walls…. And other things that we were dreading trying to organise have been really easy. But some of the paperwork is nightmarish – we just want to go sailing, please.

Thankfully the cruising refit of Morpheus is coming along nicely with new signage, new sails, an arch with dinghy davits and other new toys like a watermaker, additional solar panels, wind generator, additional house batteries, radar, AIS etc etc are already in place – but we can’t see Morpheus or play with the new stuff to check all OK and go through our lists – we are so far away we could be on Mars and we can’t wait to see her for ourselves. In the meantime we have to make do with photos coming through.

Of course loads of shopping has been going on over this side of the pond as well – and not all for clothes!  Some boat stuff is cheaper in the US so we get it shipped straight down to St Thomas to await our arrival. Other stuff we have here at home to go travelling with us. Not sure what UK security and the US TSA are going to make of all the tools we will be carrying in checked luggage though! I’m sure Richard’s newly acquired collection of Jubilee clips will also look a bit odd on the x-ray. Then there is the dive gear and all the portable electronics to go… plus a treasured selection of specialist tea, Indian spices and the odd jar of marmite… Oh boy this is going to be fun…

Add domestic things into the mix like a range of insurances / car stuff / house stuff / wills / tax returns / this blog / going out every night of the week to say farewells to family and friends (those we didn’t get to see I’m truly sorry and hope you forgive us) – gives you a flavour of my stress levels right now with only a couple of weeks to go.

Richard on the other hand is uber confident we’ll get it all done and is getting really excited – I am so envious of his confidence and he just ticks his blue jobs off effortlessly without fuss. The list of pink jobs remaining is enough to send me into a tizzy. Underneath I’m really excited too although, right now, I don’t think I’ll personally believe it until I’m sitting in the airside lounge in Heathrow waiting to fly on Thursday 29th November!

Oh yes before I forget recently we were given Bubo the owl as a gift to provide wise guidance for our trip (inspired by Jason and the Argonauts or was it the alcohol?) – so here is a photo of our latest crew member. Richard says enough – no more toys! See our crew page to meet the others.

But that’s not all we’ve been up to – I’ve done my long range radio practical and theoretical exams and got the very posh certificate to prove it. So looking forward to playing with the SSB radio now that I know what I’m doing. We’ve both done the radar course, a rigging course and have a hands-on diesel engine course scheduled for next weekend.

Phew…. Getting ready is hard work – don’t know how we found time to actually hold down demanding jobs.  Bye for now.

Jan