First things first.  Put the crew to work.  Brad is incredibly knowledgeable about yachts and incredibly competent in a whole set of skills that we are only just passable at.  We had some rust on the windvane that needed attending to and by the time Brad had finished sanding, prepping and painting it was better than new.  It is difficult to describe just how well he does this kind of thing and how great it is to benefit from such good results.

It was indeed immaculate and really just what we needed.  Carol negotiated a further $100 dollars off the price and we did the deal.

We were pleased with the timing because our weather forecasts were indicating days and days of very light winds so a cruising chute would be just the job.

A critical part of our preparations was watching the weather.  We listen to a chap called Chris Parker who gives fantastically detailed forecasts on the long range radio each morning.  When we are about to do a long passage we subscribe to his service for a month which means we can talk to him direct and he will go through a forecast for us and advise on how best to navigate the passage.  We had a wifi connection so we were able to watch his simultaneous webcast which meant he could show us on the weather maps and charts what it was he was talking about.  Really cool stuff.

We delayed a few days more because we didn’t fancy going straight out into strong winds and big seas.  Then, finally, it looked better and we were able to leave on the 28^th.  We were pleased to be moving on at last but very sorry to leave our haven in Whitaker Creek and our new friends here.