We’ve got “the list” of things that have to be done before leaving San Diego and heading back up the coast to San Francisco. Lots of things on the list are done–and of course, as lists go we’ve managed to add as many things to the list as we got done!  However, we should be leaving as early as next weekend.  I have two more PT sessions during the week and David has to pick which things to “finish” and which to save for doing in anchorage somewhere.

Last month, shortly after returning to the boat post-surgery, I realized that both David and I’d be happier “saving” my varnish and paint work for anchorage times.  David just makes too much dust and mess for me to actually get anything done while he’s doing his projects so I just said “when we go, I’ll do it!”

We’ve been on a dock for 3 weeks and it will be a month total time on the dock when we leave it later this week.  We’ve really enjoyed having shore power for the tools, but I’m really looking forward to those very tools–as well as piles of wood and offcuts–being put away (or thrown away) so I can wash the boat without getting water on them.  It will really be nice!

The “one time” pre-passage activities that we have to do include aligning the engine, hauling David up the masts to check the rigging conditions, washing down everything inside and out, and going through my “stash and lash” process to get Mahdee back in shape for the open ocean.  Other little things include checking all the thru hulls (exercising the valves), the bilge pumps, and the spare parts bins.  And–that brings us to provisioning.  We’ve been grocery shopping for the “short term” and now we need to shop for spending a month of meandering from anchorage to anchorage.  We only expect to be sailing for two weeks or so later in the month–but our unexpected month of gunkholing last August in the Sacramento Delta with only about 10 days worth of good food aboard was “interesting” eating.  We were saved by the plentiful blackberries, thank goodness!