So much to do ...

... soo little time left before we're off ... yipee!

Major news is that we're definitely two handed, Mark has to work. It's a bummer but there's no help for it.

Yesterday, Rik and I spent half the afternoon sorting out a big shopping order to Tescos for delivery tomorrow afternoon. As Rik put it, we don't want to spend the first few hours of the trip in Asda! Amazing how much grub and what have you two people need for a fortnight. Then add an adequate supply of bottled water and what I suspect will prove to be an inadequate supply of bottled beer and hey presto, you've got a bill for nearly £200!

Meanwhile, I've all but got the technology sorted out and organised. After a trip to Maplins I've acquired a really neat tiny little Bluetooth dongle to replace the one that's gone AWOL and after a bit of faffing about persuaded the Bat Phone via an app to send NMEA data over bluetooth to Memory Map running on the laptop! So even if I can't find the bluetooth GPS mouse on board I've got the means to get a GPS fix into the chart plotting software on the laptop (I can also do it via USB but that means an inconvenient bit of string twixt phone and laptop)

I've transferred all the outbound routes to the phone as well - it's a nuisance that Memory Map on the phone doesn't use their proprietary .mmo data files, have to convert every file to .gpx (GPS Exchange) format. Hey ho, the joys of computers eh? I've also made sure that the phone has downloaded all the relevant charts - there is no option to bulk download and it would be a pain over 3G and a waste of time with no data connection.

Something that's been nagging at the back of my mind is the problem of not being able to hear the VHF over the engine noise when motoring. Added to that of course, we have a single point of failure. Now around our normal cruising grounds of the Crouch, Roach and Blackwater the VHF is of limited importance. Yes, we make the occasional call to a marina to book a visitors berth but that could be done by mobile phone. Other than that, the only other significant purpose of the VHF is for making emergency calls.

However, we're planning to sail into waters under strict VTS (Vessel Traffic Service) control where we are obliged to maintain a listening watch on the relevant channel and to communicate our intentions and indeed, in some cases, obtain permission before proceeding. So this morning I put in a crash order on express delivery for a basic cheap Cobra handheld VHF. It has all the functions although it's not the most powerful hand held VHF on the market. Nor is it totally waterproof, merely water resistant and it won't float. On the other hand, it was a third of the cost of units that will do all those things! Given that we had decided not to spend any more money on the boat this season I figured I would be in trouble if I spent any more than absolutely neccessary!

Less sucessful was my hunt this afternoon for a second 10l jerry can. Not one to be had in Kettering anywhere. So in the end I bought a couple of 5l plastic cans to add to the two I've already got in the shed. It gives us the required quantity of petrol ... or at least as much as I think we can realistically squeeze on board at any rate ... albeit not in as convenient a form as I'd like. I also bought a rechargeable 2000 candlepower spotlight - Glen gave us one when we got the boat but it's now died - as the little LED job we've got on board, whilst handy, is a bit feeble

Finally, this afternoon, I did a bit of admin and updated our Coastguard CG66 emergency details, added the hand held VHF to the Ships Radio Licence and printed off the route plan and tide tables. Now I've just got to finish off inserting that lot into the boat file and pack up the laptop, GPS and associated leads and that job is put to bed.

I haven't even started sorting out my clothes and what have you yet!