I woke up this morning cold, really cold. My cheery comfy summer quilt that makes me smile every morning just didn’t cut it. The wind is blustery and I’m dreading the cold floor on my feet as I tread down the stairs to get my coffee. The weatherman says its going to warm up later today, but the realisation is that the days are getting shorter and weather is getting cooler and that it is time to go. Not only that, the fact is that I keep finding Cruising Outpost sailing magazines in the outhouse, all conversations turn to West Marine, Defender or Hodges Marine.
Linda: Marc I would really like to go pick some fresh apples that are in season.
Marc: Apples in season, as in AIS, yes I was just checking out a new VHF with integrated AIS. Sure let’s go shopping.
Linda: We really need to make sure the wood stove is in, so camp doesn’t get to cold.
Marc: Maybe we should set up Chris Parker so we can watch weather trends. Its never too early to start planning.
Linda: Do you feel that wind? Holy jeez it almost feels like the camp is rocking and rolling.
Marc: Thats a beam sea.
Linda: Screw off Marc.
Marc is right though, it is time to start planning and preparing to leave and I feel wholly inadequate; where to start, what to do? It’s only been 17 months since we had to take a hiatus from our sailing adventure, but honestly it seems that its been an eternity. I have those first time jitters I experienced when we originally left our home port of Little Current in 2013.
Our planned departure is the first week of November. It seems an eternity away, yet way to damm close. Instead of my morning perusal of gardening posts on Pinterest I have started to scan Women Who Sail and my other favourite sailing blogs.
My first attempt at getting my head back into leaving was posting a question on WWS my favourite information site bar none: “It is planning time again, so I have a quick question. When we leave Canada and go south most items in the US are cheaper so we provision there, except toiletries such as toilette paper, and hygiene products. Are there other cost effective items to buy here even with the exchange of our sad Canadian Dollar?”
As always, the members didn’t fail me. I was reminded of the value of Buckley's cough syrup that is equal in demand with Canadian maple syrup. Available in Canada over the counter drugs such as Scopolamine patches, Neosporin drops, acetaminophen with codeine. But most importantly I am thankful for the reminder to pack Montreal Steak spice and Toppers pizza sauce. Life would have been completely lacking if I had forgotten the sauce.
Thankfully, after much digging into the bowels of my trusty old computer, I found my provisioning lists from 2014, 2015. I squealed with delight and stopped to take a minute of gratitude from my whirling brain. Did we really pack 14 cases of beer?
The good news is, that I'm excited I get take my cheery comfy summer quilt with me.
