We're Away!!

We left Campbell River today. On time. Amazing!! Although to be fair...it was a late night, and both the boat and house were not as neatly put away as I had hoped, but it feels good to get away. And it is only because of all the help we've received from friends and family who came out to help us pack, haul, paint, eat, clean, laugh, and store!! You are all the best!!

After 10 hours of motoring under sunny skies and with calm winds, we're now nestled in for a couple days at Schooner Cove Marina, near Nanoose. We'll spend tomorrow here, unpacking boxes, stowing supplies, and having some work done on the boat, and leave again on Thursday morning.

Whew...

T minus 2

2 days until our estimated departure. We pack, we paint...we are blessed to have awesome friends and family.

Bon Voyage

Today, the families threw us a great send-off party at the beach. I was surprised, thrilled, and humbled at all the people that took time out of a summer Saturday to come out and say good-bye! Thank you all so much. We love you all...and are looking forward to seeing you as you join us in far away ports!

Look Ma...No Hands!!

We've finally had a chance to test out our newly installed Monitor wind vane. We sailed...or rather, the vane sailed... almost the entire way from our house to Rebecca Spit. As you can see in the picture, the vane is tilted by the wind, which in turn, moves the pendulum in the water. This pendulum pulls on the lines, which are led back to the wheel. MAGIC!

Now we just have to come up with a name for it. I suggested Hans ...remember Hans and Franz....here to pump you up!! Hans is also the name of the inventor.

Retirement is Pending...

Well...I've bit the bullit. I submitted my notice with both of my key clients/employers. And it was really brought home as we sat in interviews last week. Now the countdown is emminent...Four more weeks of work!!

Saving Money

I might as well be Scottish...I LOVE to save money. So...when I discovered the price of a man-over-board pole, I decided to build it myself. Thankfully, I enlisted the help of Amy and Strahan over the Easter weekend. We spend an afternoon cutting, filing, sanding, weighting, testing, refining, and finally celebrating!! No major injuries occurred, so we considered this project a success. And...only 6 trips to the hardware store!

The idea is that you throw this pole off the boat, when someone is discovered to have gone overboard. It has a weight at one end, a float near the middle, and (will have) a flag at the top to help you re-locate the person. Safety first...

The LIST

We spent some time reviewing our TO DO list, and have moved some items to the 'not now' category, and tried to allocate tasks. Surprisingly...a majority of the tasks have my name next to them. I'm not sure why that is...especially since I'm not the one who is recently retired!!

Courtesy Flags

I got these for John for Valentines Day.

It is customary when sailing into a foreign country to fly the flag of that country. I've started to collect a few flags...so far, I have the USA, Mexico, Equador (Galapagos) and France. Haven't been able to find a French Polynesia flag - so France will be our fall back. I'm still looking...

I've also got a yellow quarantine flag. It is flown when you first enter a country, to indicate that you have not yet cleared customs.

The Engine Springs to Life

It's been almost a whole year of engine woes. We've become near professionals at removing and replacing the engine. I've even read a whole book on diesel engines, and troubleshooting. We've hummed, we've haaa-ed. And now - we have success. It seems that the ol' Perk is running just as smooth as can be. Pressure is right where we want it. Wahoo!!! We'll return it to it's rightful place IN the boat, next weekend. When we have finished cleaning the fuel tank, and making the engine compartment sparkly and new! Finally - good news. Now...we can really get excited. This trip might just happen after all!! :O)

Vancouver Boat Show

We went to the show...and we survived. We didn't even have to dive into our line of credit. Hurray. We had lots of great conversations with various vendors. We talked with engine manufacturers, got quotes from sailmakers, and just wandered around and oogled all the millions of gadgets that we 'need' to have on Renova. In the end, John bought me a present - a cookbook by James Barber - One Pot Wonders! And I bought a handy pair of boat boots. The best part was that we met up with cruising friends for coffee, had dinner with Brandy, and we even bumped into Mark and Jayson as we were leaving!! Great chance to catch up with old friends!