Two Months and Counting Down!

Now we have two poles on the stern

Departure date for the Caribbean 1500 is less than two months away! For some that may seem like a long time, but for us, it is crunch time. Trillium just left Jabin's Yacht Center in Annapolis after getting the hydro and wind generators installed.

Dennis has been back and forth to the boat to discuss the project and I have been home packing up stuff!

Oh, there is that word again: STUFF! I now have piles for the cottage, piles for the boat, piles to go into storage and what is left over! The plan is to have an estate sale company come in and deal with what we don't want to save, store or take with us.

There is an offering on the house in process as I write. I am skeptical of announcing it as a SOLD event until the papers are signed and the money is in hand. That should happen on September 30th. Actually, we both felt rather sad and a little testy after we had committed to selling it. And we don't even have that issue of "but our children were raised here!" I think it is more a matter of: WOW! We are actually committed to it now. Reality does have a way of playing with your mind and emotions. And if it doesn't go through, we will rent it out until we return! However, the buyers have sold their house and are anxious to move in.


Grandparents' Day at Camp!

The hardest part will be leaving our six year old granddaughter here. We don't see the grandchildren in London, UK and San Francisco as often so that is not as difficult. But this little one enjoys being with us and is having a difficult time understanding why we are selling our house and leaving her. She reminds me regularly that we will miss her birthday party! In fact, we just had a party to celebrate my birthday and an early birthday celebration for Addison.

What she doesn't realize is how much I will miss: her hugs, sleepovers, trips to the cottage together, swimming, silly jokes and stories, seeing her art work, her recitals, and ... And Grand D will miss her snuggles!

Birthday dinner with her two favorite people!

We are heading to the boat again next week to start stowing provisions. Just how much toilet paper do we need for 4-5 people for a year!?! I have been told it will not be available in Muslim countries! Is that true???

The other challenge is my gluten and dairy free diet. I have stashed a lot of gluten-free pasta and almond and coconut milk cartons. I am still struggling with how much food to stow. I have pre-cooked, vacuum-packed meats and chicken and have it in the freezer. The last trip to the boat via Southwest will have at least one duffel full of frozen food. It better get there!

Storage on a boat is always a problem. Many boats have a lot of bilge space under the sole (cabin floor), but ours has huge water and fuel tanks there. Those are very important so I have to find other space. Then there is the battle between storage space for provisions and storage space for spare parts and necessary equipment! I think I am on the losing end of this one, too. I thought I could store more under our bunk, but they just took that space for batteries and electrical controls. I lost again! Maybe everyone will have to hug a bag of groceries while they sleep!!!