That day is finally coming. We are waiting for some parts and one more repair then we will be heading to those southern latitudes next week. This last couple of weeks has allowed us to test out the boat, get comfortable with her, learn the systems, we are now in the serious provisioning stage of preparations.

We took her out on a five day voyage to test systems and see what we did not know. Larry learned a lot about her. The boat is much more complex then our little race boat was. We have a heater, inverter, freezer, refrigerator, solar and its interaction with the batteries and demands of lights and appliances, then you have the two heads and they are electric. The anchor and chain are huge so thank goodness we have an electric windlass to bring the anchor up. And not to mention our trusty engines and the tender. Mechanic says they are the best engines ever made!

This morning we had a radio professional come by to go over and answer questions regarding the single side band radio and VHF. Navigation and the chart plotter is another area I am learning. Larry is proficient at navigation but had a new toy in the chart plotter.

So much to take in and to learn before heading on the adventure. Two crew will join us for the trip down and we will fly them home.  This takes to pressure off me to do half of the watches through the night.

Last week our good friend Jean and his son John introduced us to fishing and its gear. Wow. He knows what he is talking about. Fishing is not luck. I have not fished since 1972. However, I was quite lucky....I won all the fish catching prizes at Brian's 8th birthday party in 1970.

Rocky is not adjusting so well. He is convinced that it is not a good idea to potty on the Pet Loo on the fordeck or anywhere else on the boat. So.....we are putting real grass on top of it to try and convince him.

Our next blog will be from Mexico. Bon Voyage!