Janet at the helm as we head down the Houston Ship Channel towards Galveston

Well we did it! Besides working hard in our business we have also been working for the last few years on getting Melos ready for our trip. And this weekend we actually took her to Offats Bayou in Galveston for the weekend. Sure it was fun to be aboard our boat again but the trip was really to check out a lot of our systems and in particular the old Volvo diesel. The engine started reluctantly and ran with quite a lot of bluish white smoke initially but by the time we reached Galveston the smoke was considerably less and virtually non existent by the end of our voyage. So, good  news.

Lots of things worked like our new stove and propane system (with fantastic pot holders made by our friend Dan Lexa), our PC navigation system, the charging system etc. But not everything was perfect. I still have to hook up the panel wiring for the SSB and windlass, the Tricolour light is still not working and requires another trip up the mast, and I need to finish a bunch of small projects. Still the weekend was generally very successful, which is good as we only have seven weeks until our planned departure date. Now I have a list of thirty five items to complete but I am sure there are more! I’ll let you know how the list goes. For now here it is:

And Janet points out that she has a long list too! Which is even more onerous given that she will be working full time up to our departure date.