The morning after our flight, we finally got our chance to get aboard to see what we would have to contend with for preparations on our journey home. First things first was to un-winterize, get the cover and winter frame off, and to get all boat systems up and running. After a year and a half, a good airing out was in order.
It is a delivery trip, so all things won't get done, but we still have 1000 nm to travel, so we do have to be prepared. Luckily, overall, it was surprisingly clean still. As all boats do, it did need some love, so we began to make a list. Happily, we found the previous owner had left most needed thing aboard, but there is always more to buy and do. We opted to replace all 6 batteries, and a few other miscellaneous items we may need. We also have to get supplies aboard to feed three hungry sailors. Beer, rum and wine are on the necessary list.....because we're sailors. We took the rental car and found a hotel in Burlington for the night and got our supplies, to start. Costco, Walmart and Advanced Auto all got a good chunk of change before we left the stores. We were back at the boat the next morning, eager to continue. The next few days were spent cleaning, greasing, inspecting and checking the systems, etc... Suzanne got her galley up to snuff, well her minimum standard while underway. Just because we were on a boat is no reason not to eat well, the chef says. I'm confident we were the only boat roasting garlic as part of a checklist to be ready to travel. Eventually, on Monday the twelfth, the boat got splashed. After we had a few days we were confident we were done with the bottom, and anything involving keeping the water on the outside. This is my first boat with a swing keel, so I don't want to investigate it's workings in the water. We were hoping for the Friday, but that was a big push and we were getting tired, plus a lot of running to Burlington, which was not close by. Once in the water, we dropped the mast onto our newly built cradle on deck for getting through the canals. Once we tied the mast down, we set off to our assigned spot at the dock. The engine seems to work well, food and water aboard, heads working, although we need to rebuild both heads, and electronics (besides wind instruments) all ready. The phone on the other hand is terrible. I got the US roaming package from my provider here in Canada and it does not work at all. I contacted tech help from Virgin Mobile, and they are useless. They were intent on me phoning them, and just kept bumping me from person to person at the same, and only level. Eventually they reimbursed me my fee. It was not worth the 3 hours via chat online. I'm not sure what thought process goes into only being able to troubleshoot a phone not working, by phoning in to tech help. I'll be buying a SIMM card of whatever country I am in from now on upon arrival.
All ready to head out....and we have to wait for a tropical storm to blow past. I did not want to be in the middle of Lake Champlain with a mast horizontal in a big blow. So, although a big stormy, we were in the water and ready to leave North Hero Marina once the weather had passed, which gave us some time to get familiar with the boat, and to relax with a few tasty beverages and to prepare for our adventure ahead.