1st November 2006

Orange Park, Florida.

Belated happy birthday to Bernard and Mick, we love you both.

'Things' are still conspiring against us to further delay our departure. Our masthead wind indicator was sent off for repair in California, overnight Fedex but was sent back 5 day surface freight so should arrive today. The next step is a trip up the mast to fit it - 65 foot above the water.

As we are delayed because of this (and a few other minor things) the weather window has closed in with gales forecast over the next couple of days. The seas and wind should start to calm down on Monday night so Tuesday morning may be an appropriate time to leave. Orange Park (where we are docked) is a 6 hour motor from the ocean and so we stage the journey by spending a night at the mouth of the river at a place called Mayport. This gives us a good nights sleep before the 35 hour trip to Ft.Pierce.

While we were in Australia we had a company called Custom Creations in Wood build a microwave area in the galley and a functional navigation station in the nav cabin. The work has been completed, and a great job it is. Thanks Steve. See attached photo's for some idea.

Nicky has spent hours vacuum bagging all sorts of essential items including toilet rolls and tissues. Once bagged they resemble bricks and would definately be useful as missiles. Bagging reduces the size by more than half allowing us to store the goods in tighter spaces. The additional reason is of course to keep the items dry.

We have filled just about every space on the boat, tested navigation and communication systems, filled the water and fuel tanks and are ready to go. After 4 years in the Marina we now just want to get off the dock