T minus 7 days to blast-off...

Dubbel Zout at Sea
Nik Ormseth
Tue 20 Dec 2022 02:54
A week from today my crew and I head for Portugal!  Damian, Rowan and I will spend a few days in Albufeira provisioning and taking care of last minute details before we sail south for the Canaries, probably on December 31st.  January 15th, the ARC January leaves Las Palmas for St. Lucia!

It has been a busy month since I last posted here.  “Mt. Gear” grew at a steady pace for most of that time, but now has been tamed and wrangled into three checkable bags and a carry-on.  Bella helped me make a canvas “apron” for the fore hatch that should help keep rain and spray off it, so it can be open in a broader range of conditions without soaking the focsle.

I’m not sure that you're ever done preparing for a trip like this — if you have time, you’re going to think of something you should take care of — but I do feel like we're pretty close to “ready”.  If anything, I think I’m more ready for the voyage than I am to be away from work or my family for two months (ask me in a few weeks if that was an accurate prediction).  ;-p