Getting ready to go (again)

Not exactly tropical...had to buy boots for our visit to Montreal the first week of March.

Now I qualify as a totally indifferent blogger...I have been using the photos that I post (now with captions, thanks to my friend Ellen in Portland) as a way of keeping everyone up to date on Raconteur's adventures, but thought I would try blogging again for a bit.
Raconteur ended up staying in Lauderdale a bit longer than planned, as Susan's dad Calvin died on the first of January. We stayed in NH to be with Susan's mom, and JP made a trip to Europe to see our client there, and to see his folks, so we didn't head for the Bahamas until the 3rd of February. We arrived in Bimini after about a 15 hour passage, and then headed down the chain. Here is the link to the photos from that three week trip:

https://picasaweb.google.com/raconteurcrew/201102BiminiToGeorgetown#

We got to Emerald Bay near Georgetown, on Great Exuma, on the 26th of February, and then headed back to Lauderdale on the 28th. We had commitments in Montreal and in Europe again, and Susan wanted to spend some additional time with her mom, AND I needed to hit DC/MD for a few days to check in with colleagues and to see how the Maryland house is doing. MY mom actually flew from Lauderdale to Baltimore yesterday so we could spend some time together.

We had met some really nice people on S/V Eärendil; we saw the boat for the first time when we were anchored in the Berry Islands, and then got to meet Jill and Bud and Fuzzy at a cruiser's party on Warderick Wells, and then anchored next to them by chance at Big Majors. ANYWAY - THEY kindly reported on Raconteur's well-being a few days ago when they stopped at Emerald Bay, and we are hoping to catch them when we get back, before THEY head Stateside.

So...we head for Georgetown this coming Wednesday morning, and will re-provision there (having given away or ditched all perishables when we left; Raconteur is plugged in to shore power but we couldn't risk the fridge and freezer stuff for six weeks). By the weekend we should be on our way to the southernmost Bahamas, and from there to the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and (drumroll) THE CARIBBEAN). It is probably very bad luck to make any predictions from there, but the general plan is to be in Trinidad by the 1st of July or so.

Will post again when we are back on board.

...and not a moment to be lost

Once the Blue Peter is flying, everyone knows there is not a moment to be lost. Cruise preparation is not very exciting, so we have not been posting regularly (for your sake). But, on October 2 we took some photos for a "typical prep day" post.

We have turned out and inventoried (and cleaned) every 'storage location' on Raconteur. It turns out there are 84. Surprising what you find in some of these holes. But, now we know what's there and where it is. There are 914 unique item/location combinations.

This is the aft end of the banquette on the starboard side of the saloon. It's where we store many of the spares and repair materials. There is not a particular organizing principle inside (except that whatever you want is under at least 5 other things).

This is the tiny banquette in the forward cabin. It is actually pretty deep and has maybe half of our tools, including most of the electrical tools (voltmeter and such).

This is the port lazarette in the cockpit. It contains all of our dock lines (12), hoses, power cables, and a bunch of other things including the dinghy anchor and engine hoist.

You get the picture. The whole job took more than a week (interspersed with many other things) but it's great to have it done.

October 2 was the first calm sunny day in a while, so we took the opportunity to mark the anchor chains. It's amazing how hard it is to estimate how much chain is out when you are in the process of anchoring. The main anchor chain is 200 feet long, although in most anchorages we are within the first 50 feet.

While the paint was drying, we went up the mast to inspect and tape a few things, and place a line to raise the new radar reflector.

Pretty good view from up here!