6 Sept 2018

6th September, Chagford - Tempus fugit!!

We are now down to 8 weeks before our departure and we are starting to realise that we still have much to do. I spent yesterday afternoon linking our Yellowbrick tracking device to my phone in readiness for our departure so that we have another means of communicating with the outside world when we are at sea.

We have a list of spares that we still need to purchase, but there is a boat jumble in Newton Abbot on Saturday the 15th so I will try to get most things that we need there and whatever is left on the list will mean a trip to a good chandlers.

I have been recovering from a shoulder injury I sustained earlier this year and yesterday's physiotherapy session confirmed that I need to delay intensive use of the joint for as long as possible. On the basis of this advice, we have decided not to do the Western Caribbean rally which gives me an extra 2 months recovery time before we set off on the World ARC from St Lucia on the 12th January. It also means that we can be a part of the rally from day 1 instead of trying to break into any already established relationships further down the line when we would have joined the rally in Panama. Also, we are intending to get some canvas work done and we will have more time to get the work completed before we have to head off.

Those of our readers who follow our progress will now have a new tool available on our blog. The Pacific crossing map page will show you our exact position at all times. It won't be updated until I activate the yellowbrick tracker, but thereafter the map will be updated every few minutes. Enjoy watching our progress!

Finally, our crew members for the trip have all been invited to register for the leg(s) they are joining us on and to enter their personal details for customs and immigration and cruising permit issuance purposes. This exercise will make their participation real, and no doubt a few people are somewhat excited too, we are!!