Monday Feb 18th

Details for this week include getting taxes done, both personal and for all of the hobbies, tending to details about the timing of getting the boat, trying to verify the best way to communicate while traveling the Inside Passage, and getting the plane taken care of. Christy suggested flying commercial on March 6th, since we are already shipping so much cargo to Seattle. It makes sense at every level...cheaper, faster, and the plane can get it's annual on time here in BHM. We have booked a return trip to BHM on May 3rd for 10 days anticipating Tina's delivery of William C. Wood IV!! Now that's worth a return trip or two.

We found out that the hull preceding ours has been completed and delivered (Carol Kerley in Seattle), so that means that ours is getting their full attention now. I've gotta verify that little detail tomorrow, since our schedule assumes that our hull will truly be ready by April 1st or so. Then getting the electronics package installed is critical. We are getting what is called the "G-series" by Raymarine, which has just been released in the past month or two. It will be incredible with 3-D imaging of the underwater map, actual photos of the ground on the "plotter" (the display that shows where you are on your route), the ability to move the virtual camera that shows your location relative to the surroundings, HD digital radar, cameras at the stern and in the engine room, satellite weather, engine monitoring, depth contours and "fish-finder", etc.

Tuesday 2/19/08: Greg Clark, (our broker) has confirmed that our boat will be ready "early" and he will see us in LaConner, WA around March 16th. Our assumption now is that we will move our stuff onto our boat before the first of April, well ahead of schedule. We will be cruising the San Juan Islands and Puget Sound area from March 7th through June 1, more or less. Then we plan to begin the Alaskan journey. We have the Tides and Currents tables and charts for most of it now, but anticipate needing more charts as we plan the route.

Thursday 2/21/08: We are now exactly 2 weeks away from departing for Seattle. Our shipment of "goods" is tracked now heading west out of Chicago, scheduled to arrive in Bellingham on Tuesday Feb 26th. We'll see if that happens. I have arranged our insurance to be in effect, and scheduled the shipping of our boat from Vancouver to Ft. Lauderdale around Nov 1st, with a discount for early payment. Anyone considering shipping a boat needs to consider this. We are using Yacht Path International.