Making Progress in Mandurah

We're making good progress here in Mandurah on our long, long to-do list. While it rained for a few days, we did several inside tasks. We're feeling like we're on schedule for a change … unusual to say the least. I took a couple of hours to complete and enter the updated inventory of all food stores aboard Nine of Cups into our new and improved provisioning spreadsheet and have placed a couple of orders for free delivery to the boat. Though we won't be leaving for a couple of months, I can place the orders for the bulk of the provisions needed and then just replace what I use.  

David has been working hard at splicing and installing new Dyneema lifelines. He's doing it in sections and sits splicing while we watch movies at night and then installs a section the next day. There's a total of six top sections to be done and he plans to complete them this week.

One rainy afternoon, I dug out all of my flag nylon and sewed up two new courtesy flags for Mauritius and Madagascar. Mauritius is a “for sure” stop en route and Madagascar is a “hope we have time, but I've made the flag just in case” stop. We also plan a visit to Reunion for which I already have a French flag. I hunted and finally found our South Africa flag from 2007 and our “Q” flag and have them all ready for use in a few months.

While I sewed, David began stenciling the boat name on the new horseshoe. He'll use a similar technique to repaint the name on the dinghy. He used an adhesive template, so we need to remove the sticky residue before it discolors or collects dirt.

Otherwise, we've been cleaning and waxing and polishing to our heart's content. I've mopped and scrubbed down below, vac'ed (that's a novelty) and swept and beat rugs and scrubbed the stovetop and oven and last, but not least, polished my teakettle. When the teakettle's shining, I feel like the boat is finally clean. While we have fresh water and power aplenty, we're taking advantage of it. We waited till a calm morning and turned the boat around by simple hand-lining, so David can wash and wax the port topsides and shear stripe … the side away from the dock. It's pretty easy when you're on the end of a t-dock with nothing in the way.

We've had several visitors, most with invitations to do something wonderful with them. We're glad we're on target for getting our chores done because now we won't feel quite as guilty if we sneak away for a few hours here and there to see the countryside and spend some time with new friends.