Lists, lists and more lists...

And I don't mean listing to port. Or starboard, for that matter! But at the moment, lists rule our lives, as we are busily checking off the items on our various and sundry endless to-do lists in our effort to prepare for departure. We have been focused, efficient, productive and, at times, frantic, in our quest to accomplish whatever we can each day!! To say it's been high-speed is an understatement, but then again, I am married to Ron, who is high-speed personified. :) There just seems like there's a lot more to do this go-round since we haven't lived aboard the past two months, and we have a lot to restock, re-provision and re-supply!  

Sunday and Monday included runs to Publix for pantry dry goods, toiletries and sundries, with time-consuming inventorying and re-arranging of items aboard Equinox to accommodate the new stuff. Eclipse was dropped into the water and run over to the dealer for maintenance and servicing -- routine stuff and, actually, not really needed since she had so few hours on her engines since we did maintenance last, but...better safe than sorry. Tingum had to be relocated to the dealer as well (her bilge pump isn't working for some reason) in between numerous phone calls, and runs to various places for odd spare parts, holding tank supplies, fishing tackle, office supplies, pharmaceuticals, and dry cleaning. Not to mention runs to the post office and bank, since we are closing on our new slip here at Outrigger Harbour, just to add more items to the list!! AUGH!

We'd also arranged for some canvas repair/replacements for all three boats: a small hatch cover needed replacement on Equinox after we lost one in the winds, a new cover for Eclipse was needed as the other was was becoming more tattered, torn and duct-taped than useful; we also got a bait well cover for Tingum, and oh, what the heck, we ordered a new cover for her as well...so LOTS done there. (G&G Canvas to the rescue!!) This amid toting propane tanks for re-fills and topping off, taking the scuba tanks and regulators for inspection and servicing, doing a big meat/wine/cheese provisioning at Sam's Club yesterday, getting new glasses for Ron, coordinating boat detailing, finally getting the wind indicator fixed by Martek, tracking down orders of supplies not yet delivered, dealing with the bike shop regarding a receipt for the replacement of the bike box that was damaged by American Airlines on our trip to CA....the list goes on!!! I spent a fair bit of time aboard in the galley with the vacuum-sealer, re-packaging the newly-purchased foodstuffs into manageable quantities for the freezer, while Ron dealt with the unexpected: fixing the nail puncture/slow leak in the tire of the truck, having to do back-track to pick up some supplies that didn't come in on time as promised. 

And...now, for the weather report: It's been utterly, simply, fantastically GLORIOUS weather here for the past two weeks. Low humidity, lovely temperatures, wall-to-wall blue skies, light winds, seas of 2' or less...just fabulous cruising conditions, naturally. All the while we are still in hurricane season and simply preparing to depart...and unfortunately, we're not out there yet, unable to enjoy this perfect crossing weather. (You gotta love Mother Nature!) Nevertheless, we are hoping to head out in two days, on Thursday, and are keeping a close eye on the new tropical depression brewing south of Cuba that will no doubt rain on our parade. The law of averages dictates that, since we've have such good weather while preparing and provisioning, right?? Oh well! We will be ready come Thursday, and simply go with the flow! Not a problem to wait for the weather -- it'll be easy once we've done everything else!! SO, what's next on the list?