Countdown to departure ....

The big spring cruise is almost upon us and I can't wait!

Lots of last minute preparations and "damn, I forgot such and such" ordering!

We'll be trying a new fuel for the spirit stove for one thing. Suddenly, bio-ethanol has become readily available in the UK in shops and by mail order despite seemingly falling foul of the rules that require neat alcohol to be denatured (hence methylated spirits) unless sold under licence

It's sold for use in spirit fireplaces that are all the rage in modern minimalist décors but in essence it is simply pure ethanol (the "bio" is a bit misleading since I gather that most industrial ethanol, from which meths is manufactured anyway, is from "bio" sources rather than fossil fuels being made from wood pulp, straw and other agricultural by-products) and as far as I can tell the stuff I've just bought on the t'interweb isn't denatured in any way!

The big advantage is the lack of the classic meths smell. This stuff has very little smell at all, maybe just a whiff reminiscent of neat vodka or gin (but I seriously advise against drinking the stuff!). A secondary advantage is that I've bought 12 litres of the stuff in handy sized 1 litre dispensing bottles for rather less than I was previously paying for 10 litres of meths in 2 x 5 litre containers which had to be decanted before filling to stove.

A few last minute items are on order from the chandlery - some soft shackles to use on the cruising chute (one for the sheets, two to attach the sheet blocks to the coaming cleats at the aft end of the cockpit), a rechargeable foghorn thing (been meaning to get one for ages, kept forgetting) and, crucially, a Barton roller reefing handle. Although the roller reefing boom on Brigantia has long been superceded by the superior slab reefing, the mechanism is all still in place and over the last couple of years the boom has managed to twist round by a few degrees. No amount of persuasion will convince it to rotate back into the vertical without the proper handle and although one could doubtless be borrowed, the same thing is likely to happen again so it would be useful to have one on board.

Of course, wouldn't you just know it - the chandlery was out of stock on the critical item but they've promised to have it in by Wednesday and shipped to me to arrive Thursday. Fingers crossed.

There's bags of clothes on the settee, bags of bags (sleeping, for the use of) on the floor by the couch, bags of charts and things (navigation, for the use of) by my desk. The two things that are lacking are bags of time and bags of money!

And now to plans ...