It's been a slow but moderately productive week. Packing everything away after a long winter is a daunting task, I always seem to forget how much stuff we have onboard...or rather we have too much stuff onboard that's difficult to pack away neatly, might be a more accurate statement.
Monohull Yachts tend not to stay horizontal when they're sailing, so a lot of preparations are involved in getting our floating-home ready for life at an angle, even for a short trip. Everything must be closed up, put away, and/or stapped down - otherwise, you run the risk of something becoming a projectile and causing damage or injury to either the boat or the crew - neither of which is ideal.
When we're sailing the crew are usually kept below decks so additional preparations are made on their behalf to ensure they have suitable places to sleep and little nooks where they can hide out and feel safe if they want to... a few of their beds are even in fixed locations and cannot move so they both always have a secure berth.
Their food and water bowls must also be secured so they don't tip over and go everywhere while underway, and their litter box must be put somewhere so it also can't make a mess...but still be accessible by the crew...that last one is very important.
Supplies have to be collected where and when possible, and much to the frustration of the Captain - the crew can be quite picky at times, and without notice, just collectively decide that the food that had been previously crew approved, is no longer suitable...also finding cat litter that matches the crew's preferences is an ongoing struggle.
Having said all that, we're about 95% ready to go with just a few tiny jobs to wrap up and then we can go on a short cruise before deciding which route we're going to take...this year's plans are trashed due to Covid-19, so we might go North for a bit and then South, or the other way around...some warmer, less rainy, weather would be a nice change.
We're very sorry there's not more to report on, but when we post our next Ships Blog, we should be in another place!