This is it! We are just less than three weeks out from out tentative departure date…. Wow. More than one year of preparing the boat and six years of planning and dreaming have passed by. It’s hard to believe that the time is almost here.
We’ve completed PHASE I of provisioning: an $8000 peso Costco run. It was the first time we’ve been to the Costco down here, and wow, it was worth it. We stocked up on things like canned chicken breast (my new favorite thing), couscous, toilet paper, paper towel, pasta, cereal, chips and crackers. We filled two entire trollies and are even talking about going back. PHASE II will be a Walmart or Mega trip to make sure we have all the smaller items, spices, herbs and Mexican delights we need for the next three months. PHASE III will be for fresh fruit and vegetables, a day or two before sailing into the sunset.
Aside from provisioning we’ve been knocking things off the To-Do list. Last week I felt like we weren’t making any progress and I was starting to get really stressed out. This week we’re crossing things off left right and center. After sitting down and drawing out a planning calendar I realized that we have a whole extra weekend in there before we go that I hadn’t factored in…. tons of time.
Is a last minute Single Side Band Radio installation a good idea? We’ll have to let you know. The tuner is now installed and most of the cables run – one more day’s work and we’ll be able to press ‘ON’ and see if she works…
svkaiquest.com 
Hey, this is good news! Following these provisioning ideas closely, too. Can’t wait to read of your departure…the adventure of a lifetime!
Gus/SV Awaken
LikeLike
Very good news! I’ll post my provisioning spreadsheet soon which may be of interest. Thanks for following!
LikeLike
Good luck guys, we are looking forward to seeing you on this side of the puddle. Love Angie and Bruce
LikeLike
Tahiti sounds real good right now! Annapolis in winter? Never again!
LikeLike
Since neither of us have even been to Australia, we are so excited to get over there – whenever that may be… We’d love to come and visit!
LikeLike
We assume you’ll reach the Queensland coast some time. We are 40 minutes’ drive from Keppel Bay Marina (lat.01deg.15.9’N). It’s at Rosslyn Bay, which is near the township of Yeppoon. We shall be delighted to see you and to make any enquiries or arrangements (including sourcing suppiles of canned chicken) in advance of your arrival.
Best wishes for the Pacific.
Mary and Dick
LikeLike
Ha ha! Thanks Mary & Dick. We’ll definitely be in touch once we get to your coast.
LikeLike
Have you decided where to make landfall? We went to Hiva Oa instead of Nuku Hiva and we were glad we did as it made the beat to Fatu Hiva only one day. In our opinion, Fatu Hiva is not to be missed. Also, we found the carvings and crafts on Tahuata to be the best in the South Pacific but they were expensive. Many of our friends got stunning tattoos in Bora Bora. If you’re thinking about extending your visa (90 days is not near enough time to see French Polynesia), consider applying for the extension in one of the outlying islands. Papeete almost never grants visa extensions. Have a great trip!
LikeLike
Thanks for the info Neil! We are completely torn over where to make landfall. We really don’t want to miss Fatu Hiva or Tahuata which will happen if we make landfall in Nuka Hiva. However we’ll probably only stay in the Marquesas for about a week and have heard that Nuka Hiva has better anchorages and is really beautiful. I think it’ll be a game time decision once we’re out there and see where is easiest. Tatoos are probably going to happen somewhere along the way and we’re saving lots of time for the Soceity Islands. Can’t wait!
LikeLike
ehwww…I didnt know there was such a thing as canned chicken. That
s got to be Mexican!!
Keep us posted xx
LikeLike
I’ve never seen it before either. It’s pretty tasty. Might be an economical meal choice for the wedding? 😉
LikeLike
I feel your pain with the SSB install. Its a steep learning curve, some of it is more art than science and it takes a while to work out the kinks and learn all that you can do with it. http://tuulitime.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-ssb-money-pit.html
Fortunately after writing this we are using it frequently to download all kinds of weather information.
LikeLike
Uh Oh – hopefully we can master the ‘black art’ of SSB in the next two weeks! Glad to hear that yours in now figured out and working for you. Thanks for the link!
LikeLike