A pre-departure celebration or two

We're now only a couple of weeks from the off (though you might not believe it from the chaos at home - boxes everywhere, packing at a frantic pace!) so we decided to have a little drinks party on board Maunie at the weekend. I think we probably broke some records for the number of people aboard - at one stage the tally was 16.

L-R: Jacqui, Neil, Amanda, Sean, Karen, David, Sue, Gerard, Dianne

L-R: Neil, Jacqui, David, Karen, Andy, Lucinda, Anita, Cora, Will, Sean

Andy, Dianne, Lucinda

Dianne, Cora, Tim, Will, Anita

With a glass or two of champagne to celebrate our voyage it was great to have friends aboard and it was a great opportunity to show people our floating home.

It's not been all champagne and strawberries though. During last weekend's sail we discovered a leak from the deck above the galley as we beat to windward with waves washing over the leeward deck. We found the source but getting to it involved taking apart the locker above the cooker and we then discovered that the microwave (yes we have one of those aboard!) was pretty rusty, indicating that this leak has been dripping gently for a while.

A new microwave cooker has been purchased and fitted and the leak sealed; a job we weren't expected but better to find it now than when we're in mid-ocean!