2 weeks left

Seasprint being slipped this week for anti-fouling

We're making progress... We have booked a place to store all our stuff while we're away and booked a removal for late next week. We've continued to cull things we no longer need and have started packing in earnest. One of the more amusing finds was a steel cup decorated with "I wish I was in 103" and "OC 103 rocks" - nice work Nerdvak. It took me 5 years or so, but I found it.

The boat is out of the water having her bottom cleaned this week. On the way to the lift we passed a group of 10-year old-ish kids learning how to sail small boats in the marina and were amused to hear their take on avoiding collisions at sea - "Look out!", "No, you look out!".

Rebuttal

Heather wanted a bloody freezer! Ice for my scotch and being able to keep ice cream are simply bonuses...

3 weeks (or so?) to go

Reeling a lure back in; Fish 1, Nicolls Nil.

The closer we get to departing, the more we realise we still have to do and the more "fluid" our departure date is becoming. We have a good resolution to the kids' schooling arrangements - thanks, Mr Clark - and I spent time over the weekend investigating Year 4 and Year 6 curricula. Year 6 English isn't blowing me away, I must say (I blame the NSW Education Department of the 80s), but I'm kind of looking forward to revisiting Year 4 maths with Cam.

We had some success with a stall at local markets on the weekend. We managed to re-home a lot of clutter we've collected over the years - the garage was half-full, it is now only one-quarter full of things we don't want anymore -  and made a few hundred dollars that will help offset the cost of the ice-maker (freezer) Shane recently installed on the boat. And the solar panels we had to install to generate enough power to run the ice-maker so Shane has ice for his scotch...

This week will be arranging the removal to storage, parent-teacher interviews a.k.a. "the handover", and working out how itinerants like us get mail delivered to them.

Preparations continue

It's been another busy week. I spent a day learning about diesel engines - how they work, maintenance and fault-finding. We pulled one apart and got it back together again. Enjoyable and useful. We bought a couple of laptops, the three motors on board were serviced and Shane has been arranging to have her lifted out of the water again for anti-fouling. The kids have got 2 weeks left at school this term. Their schooling arrangements for the rest of the year are still up in the air a bit; unfortunately this is one aspect of the plan that hasn't been as straight forward as we hoped. And I've got 2 weeks left at work meaning it is just 2 weeks before the work begins to relocate everything we own to the boat, storage, the Salvos or the bin. A list of things we're hoping to re-home temporarily is below, please get in touch if you'd be interested in baby-sitting anything for us for 6 months!

- House, Mitsubishi Lancer, Holden Commodore with towball, Box trailer (rigged to carry 2 kayaks), 2 kayaks, Kawasaki GPX 250 (if it doesn't sell), ...

Birthday on the Bay

Scarborough to Manly, June 2011

Shane and his brother took their parents out on the bay for a joint birthday celebration last week. After rescheduling a few times, they settled on the same day as State of Origin I. The original plan of an overnight trip to Tangalooma was modified to include a stopover at Manly, allowing them the chance to pop into the Yacht Club and watch the game. A good trip, by all accounts.