Splash day...

The big day of the launch.
We can't wait. Having spent 2 weeks on the hard, we can't wait to be on the water and bobbing on an anchor.

We have learnt something new every day that we have been on land, but now it marks a new set of things to learn. How to not block the head, how to conserve fresh water, how to not drag anchor, how to sleep in a rolly anchorage etc.

Getting her prepped for launch is an entire process in itself. Everyone has their own processes. We have seen a bunch of people come and go in the yard over the last few weeks and noticed a few things and learnt a few tricks. Lesson 1 - make sure your dinghy and outboard work as it is a long row into shore.

1. We pumped up the dinghy and made sure there were no leaks.
2. We prepped and tested the outboard engine. (it seemed to have a water pump issue which required spares to be bought)
3. Bought gasoline for the outboard
4. Mixed in the 2 stroke oil (at the right ratio!)
5. Put on all the sails (as you would need them if we had an engine failure)
6. Put on all the sheets
7. Made sure the anchor chain was marked (we did ours every 20 feet)
8. Filled the water tanks and solar showers
9. Do all the washing (sheets, towels, bedding etc)
10. Stocked up on large / heavy items (as heaving heavy stores in and out of a dinghy is not the best)
11. Toilet roll! (we did not have any as we used the yard facilities for ablutions) 
12. Charged up all our electronics as we will be 100% green once on the water (solar and wind)

One step closer...

We have had a lovely relaxing 2 weeks at Dylan's parents on Salt Spring Island (check out the view from their living room below!) being fed amazing food in large quantities. Xmas presents have equipped us with boat related items including a magellan GPS, cruising guides for the Caribbean, a germinator and solar showers. Gem (Dylan's Mum) has given me a cruising recipe book containing her old favourites and I have been using the time to test some out, with successful results!

Salt Spring Island is full of interesting characters and people who have jumped off the corporate treadmill, choosing instead to move to a slower laid back lifestyle, living on an island with like minded people. Hippies aside (and wowzer there are a lot of them), we need to get cracking on our Caribbean adventure.

After hours and hours of trawling through the internet with the help of Dylan's parents, we have come up with a short list of ten boats consisting of 3 Cabo Ricos, 3 O'Days, 2 Tartans, a Hood and an Amazon all between 34 and 40 foot and all in Florida. Flights have been booked to Miami for 4th January and we are now lining up the viewings. By the time all boats have been seen, we will be experts on the geography of Florida! The viewings are taking us from the northern town of St Augustine, all the way down through Titusville to the West coast towns of Sarasota and Fort Myers, ending up where we started in Miami.

Excited and slightly daunted at all that needs to be done pre and post boat purchase, we are under no illusion that there is going to be a helluva lot of work that needs to be done to get a boat ready to head to the Bahamas.