Departure Day !

Hard to believe this day has finally arrived! The boat is provisioned, the dinghy is on-board, the new genoa sail has been test-fitted, and, gulp, it's just about time to Go.

We're still at home at the moment. Mike is mowing the lawn. I'm doing some last-minute cleaning of floors, updating my blog, checking e-mail and, in a few minutes, I'm going to bake some cookies to welcome our housesitters. Around three Richard will arrive and it will be time to say good-bye to the cats. That will be the hardest part. I miss them already! They know something's up. Scout is stuck to me like glue, and Jack has been following me around the house head-butting me or biting my leg every chance he gets.

We're disappointed in the weather. It's overcast, gloomy, and rainy today. We will probably have rain tonight. I just hope it doesn't rain tomorrow night because that is when we will be doing our first overnight sail. We'll be taking turns through the night, one of us at the helm to keep the boat on course, the other sleeping. Every two hours we will switch. Mike calls it "two on, two off." I call it "two terror, two comatose." I'm not crazy about standing watch alone in the middle of the night. It's so dark! The moon is new right now, too, so there won't even be much moonlight. Well, you've heard the saying, "every day, do something that scares you." With experience I'll get braver. And the further south we go the warmer the weather will be.

I'm also a little disappointed in my current health status. I've had a bad cold w/cough for several days now, and today I'm feeling achey all over as though I'm coming down with the flu. So annoying, just when I need to be at my best. Well, I've got plenty of meds so will just have to battle it through and hope to feel a little better each day.

A friend from County of Napa, Nancy, asked me yesterday on the phone, "what are you going to do all day?" She is worried I will be bored. True, sailing can be boring -- we certainly won't be speeding along like in a speedboat. It's a very leisurely way to travel, and you have to be patient and just enjoy being out on the water. Mike loves that, as well as any sea life we come across, the phosphoresence of the water at night, even watching for changes in the weather. He is a born sailor even though he suffers from motion sickness! The first few days will be the worst for him, but he'll take dramamine and hang in there until he acclimates to the motion of the boat.

As for me, I have so many hobbies that I could fill the days four times over. I will be doing lots of digital scrapbooking on my laptop, as well as keeping a detailed journal of our trip, updating my blog whenever I can, photographing absolutely everything, knitting socks, reading, cross-stitching, and cooking meals. All of those things will keep me very busy during my leisure time, also known as any time that Captain Mike doesn't have me busy following his orders to 'swab the deck' or 'trim the sheets!'

We'll be thinking of you all during our trip. Enjoy the Fall, take care and, please, keep in touch!