Getting encouraged by the weather

How did you spend your Bank Holiday Monday? Indoors, probably, judging by the weather and wishing you were somewhere sunny! We spent the Bank Holiday Monday morning aboard the boat, with the wind howling outside and the rain absolutely pouring down. We were moored up in the River Fal, just below Truro, so were well sheltered but we're studying the weather forecasts with extra interest.   The long range forecast suggests that we might get away on Thursday as a rare thing – a big high pressure system – heads towards Britain; in the meantime there's still plenty to do.

Since Graham left work, we just haven't stopped working towards the sailing project. The time and effort required to sort out our house – emptying it completely for rental and sorting the contents for storage or disposal – has been a lot greater than we expected if we're honest. We only have a little house and no children so how difficult could it be, we thought? Well, having lived there 13 years we'd amassed all sorts of stuff, lots of it stored in the garage and loft 'in case it might come in handy'; most of it hasn't come in handy after all so it's been E-bayed or given to charity. Anyway having finally moved aboard our new floating home, we definitely feel we've cut the ties with normal life: no car, no house, just us and a boat.

On Monday we took delivery of our medical supplies, thanks to our Best Man who's a GP in this part of the world. Dianne took a 9 day Ships Medical course earlier in the year so we're licensed to carry prescription drugs such as antibiotics; the wet Monday was spent sorting out the storage and cataloguing of these.

So we're definitely on our way and it's an exciting and slightly daunting prospect. It feels odd to be of no fixed abode and not to have the daily routine of coming to the office but it's good to know that lots of people are following our progress. We're now in the luxury of the Falmouth Marina, with a big Sainsbury's close by for our last shopping in Blighty! Tomorrow will be all about planning the passage and securing the boat for sea. We've met a German boat also bound for Spain so will probably set of together early on Thursday,