Commencing countdown.

What a joy to be able to board O2 again and to find her in mint condition after 3 months of snow, ice, and winter storms. Inside, the dehumidifier which had been running for the entire period, had successfully kept the damp and mold out. On the outside, our waxed deck had allowed for the melting snow, rain, and wind to rinse away the occasional dirt and bird poop.

The 3 winter months of wining & dining in good old Belgium delivered another kind of happiness. Delighted to be able to reconnect in the flesh with family and friends, we mostly gathered around sumptuous tables of all sorts, where conversation freely flowed. The 8-kilo weight gain -unequally divided over my and My Captain’s body – is something we will try to tackle in the months to come. 

Of course, My Captain, ever the man of action, couldn’t be without a project during this Belgian retreat. And that’s how our land base got equipped with solar panels as well, the way O2 already amply is.

In a desperate attempt to whip our butt somewhat back into shape before continuing on our sailing adventure, we went skiing in Tirol and on Mount Baker in Washington State. In Tirol, not all went well. Whereas our extra kilos didn’t budge, our son’s left shoulder joint did. On the fifth day during a glorious downhill blue (!) run he ended up in a helicopter which whisked him off to the nearest hospital where they popped his dislocated shoulder back into place. His shoulder is improving and he is getting ready for Alaska now. And so are we. 

Now, in Mill Bay , spring is in the air and we have commenced our countdown to get going again. As it is getting too warm to use the outdoors as our fridge, we needed a professional to solder the cooling unit (we brought from Belgium) to the compressor of our broken-down European refrigerator. Enters Steve Blackjacks who agreed to squeeze us in in his already overloaded schedule, for which we remain forever grateful.

A big thank you also to David who came to rewire our lithium batteries so that the Integral folks can call in from the UK to talk My Captain through the necessary update of the whole system before we set sail.

And last but not least, our High Performance Starlink (Starlink.com) has arrived ! Although still in a temporary set-up, the (quite posh) satellite dish – “dishy” is its nickname – is already up & running, giving us high speed internet as we speak. Keeping in touch will be a piece of cake, because from now on we will be roaming on a star.