Busy, Busy, PANIC Time

The closer we get to our target departure date of August 8, the busier we get. There are way more details to take care of than any other trip that we have previously entertained including the time that we had to move onboard for 4 months while the condo was being built. My mind is in over drive which is why I sit here at 5:00 AM at the top of my basement stairs writing to you. Need I explain? Let me start with my new office in the basement stairway. As you know I have cancelled many of our services including my internet provider. Well our neighbour has kindly allowed us to use his wireless router but... I can only get consistent access from the top of my basement stairway which is directly across from their den. Thus I sit on a footstool with the laptop on a TV tray.

Why 5:00 AM....because once I get up, as I always must at my age, my mind will not let me go back to sleep. This morning I got the brainstorm that we should change the oil and gear oil on the outboard motor for the dinghy....so I get up and write a note to call the mechanic to bring the necessary supplies when he comes to the marina to fix a friend's impellers. With that taken care of I make a mental note to bring some chafing gards to the boat so that I can fish the cable from our new fluxgate compass to the helm. Oh, most of you are not aware that we are installing an autopilot. So many people thought that we were crazy to undertake a 6,000 mile trip without an autopilot, that we ordered one last Thursday. We are NOT crazy. The autopilot arrived on Wednesday and I have been planning locations for the different components, cable runs, power sources, etc. ever since.

A lot of new people have asked to be included on our travel list. Well this message has nothing to do with the fun travel side but is an update for friends and family on the preparation side for the trip. Feel free to hit delete at any time.

Details, details, details. There is no end to the number of details that need looking after. Some are taken care of easily and others are such a pain in the ass. Bell ExpressVu is at the top of this list. Arrangements were made with Bell 2 months ago with plenty of slack time in case there were some minor delays. Service was cut off as planned...then my supposedly last bill arrived with charges for the next month. To begin with no service but service charges is not cool but the bigger problem was the rental PVR which needs returning. One needs shipping labels and a box from Bell to return the PVR. One cannot go to a Bell store or office to return it. Of course, these labels were not sent out on the last day of service as promised so I have been chasing Bell for the past 10 days to try and make this happen. After escalating the issue 2 levels, I may have succeeded in getting them shipped just yesterday.

The GOOD. Industry Canada, a federal gov't department provided superb service this past few days. I decided last Sunday to apply for a radio station licence for my marine radio. It is unnecessary in Canada but is a requirement for the US and the Bahamas. The US never checks but if some redneck sheriff were to get PO'd at me... well let's just say that I do not want to give them any ammunition. So the good, I sent an email with a scanned application form to IC Spectrum Division on Sunday. By 10 AM Monday, I was informed that the application was accepted and that an invoice for the annual fee would be sent out the next day. On Tuesday I paid the online invoice by credit card. Later that same day, I was informed that the licence would be mailed to me on Wednesday and that in the meantime I could get a virtual copy from their website, which I promptly did. My call sign is CFK9701. Al, could PWGSC ever be that efficient???

This week we also received our US cruising permit from the Port Authority at Port Huron. This allows us as a foreign vessel to land at any port in the US without checking in for the next year. Here again, boaters seldom do this but a few have been caught and then are delayed several days while the paperwork gets done. We got our new US credit cards finalized this week and have begun loading the safety deposit box with ???? valuables??. We got our navigational extension on our boat insurance yesterday; only an additional preminium of $2,700, that is, if we do not go below the 35 th parallel before Nov. 2. If there is a claim from a named storm before that date, their is an automatic deductible of $40,000. Needless to say we will not go past Tennesse until that date. I finalized our medical travel insurance as well this week. Since we will be out-of-province for more than 212 days, some insurance companies would not touch us. In the end we obtained an OHIP extension for one year and with the 40 day coverage of our PSHCP (my supplementary health plan from work) we purchased medical insurance for 319 days.

We'll keep plugging away. For those who know us and have been in our basement, Linda achieved a major milestone on Tuesday. She is fully caught up on all of the ironing. ***applause***. Hopefully, the autopilot will be installed on Saturday because we are planning to move onto the boat on Monday or Tuesday. Then we will have to focus on closing up the condo. This shouldn't be too bad but I would like all of the patio furniture in the basement, everything off the basement floor, fridge and cupboards emptied, hotwater tank drained, electronics unplugged, furniture covered, water turned off, etc., etc., etc.

Farewell parties and get togethers are plentiful right now. If it wasn't for Bell ExpressVu, the oil spill in Michigan, the Asian carp problem in the Chicago Ship Canal, the flooding in the Illinois and Mississippi Water Systems and the Gulf oil spill, we might actually enjoy these last few days in our home port.

Until next time.

Tom and Linda
www.qsend.blogspot.com