Forms and formalities

I can't believe the amount of paperwork which will be needed during our trip. Each country has its own rules and regulations. I'm starting to compile a folder which will contain entry requirements for each country we plan to visit, together with marina information and interesting tourist information. Trip advisor is proving to be very useful in describing places to visit. I can feel another trip to the amazon web site coming on. We have ordered more caribbean charts as well made a start on buying the pilot books. Tonight I'm going to make a start on cruising guides rather than pilot books. After all we need to know where to go to see the best that each island has to offer, be it Gran Canaria or Grenada.

Charts

This week we have been fortunate to have been lent 4 folios of charts for the Caribbean. Thank you very much to Chris and Lorraine on Somoya, who are themselves leaving Troon for the Med next week. The charts, although a few years old are still the current edition folios. They are very detailed and will be a perfect backup for the electronic chart plotters and laptop.
This part of the trip suddenly seems much closer. Using the charts and by cross referencing with the 'world cruising destinations' by Jimmy Cornell we are beginning to get a clearer picture of the sailing possibilities in the Caribbean.

Medical stuff

Ouch! Earlier this week, Steve paid a visit to the practice nurse for a couple of injections. Prior to this we had completed a travel medical form and had to list our destinations for the trip.
We have previously had hepatitis A injections so Steve has started a course of hepatitis B vaccinations and also had a typhoid injection. Next month he returns for a second Hep B injection and a booster of tetanus, diphtheria and polio.
After warning him of the possible side effects after having the injections I was surprised to find that he had no effects at all. Ha, they must all be waiting for me!
As well as the vaccinations we plan to take a comprehensive 1st aid kit with us. However we plan to keep well and stay safe.

We have on board the Ships captains medical book, which is great if you suffer from insomnia, but the St John's ambulance first aid book and the first aid at sea book are much more user friendly.

Accidents do happen and so we will take medical glue, suture material and plenty of dressings - everything from a bandaid to burns dressings. Oh yes and plenty of tubigrip for sore knees, ankles, wrists and elbows - mine probably.

For anything major we will have medical insurance.

More paperwork

Wednesdays are my trip planning days. This week I rang Bishop Skinner to ask about boat insurance whilst we are away. The very helpful man on the end of the phone asked me to email the itinerary and crew list and they will let me know. Still waiting ..... I have no idea what the cost will be.
I also enquired about personal world wide travel insurance for us both. I thought long and hard about the money involved; about £550 each. However, we can't really afford not to take out insurance going to the Caribbean. The underwriters are Towergate insurance. I rang and confirmed that we would be covered for long term cruising. Yes, we would be came the answer.
I made an appointment to see our solicitor to make new wills !! Not that I'm planning not coming back, but you have to be prepared. We are also giving our daughter Kath power of attorney to deal with any legal issues that crop up whilst we are away. After all we may actually get a buyer for Crystal Rapide.
These are all things I prefer to get sorted out sooner rather than later.

Parcels and parcels

This week has been like Christmas, without the wrapping paper. We have had deliveries each day. First was the generator, then the parts from Raymarine to rebuild the autopilot, then the holding tank arrived and finally the transformer to provide us with shore power electricity whilst we are in the Carribean. Steve is away all week so I have kept them all in the packaging so he can open them all himself.

Ground tackle

Yesterday we took a trip down to Alloway to have a look at a couple of anchors which were advertised on the notice board in Largs Yacht Haven. We have a 35lb CQR on Chewsy at the moment attached to 60 metres of 10mm chain. In the past we have had a couple of incidents of dragging and once snapped an anchor during a F8 whilst at Sanda. We are looking for something with a bit more oomph to keep us safe whilst we are away. Enter a 60lb CQR and a brand new fortress. A sale was agreed and we are now the proud owners of the above anchors. When Steve is back from his weeks own boat training, we will try the CQR anchor and see if it fits on the bow roller. Gut feeling is that the shank may be too long to sit safely in the roller. If that happens its time for a rethink. The fortress however is an excellent choice as a secondary anchor in the carribean. It is very light and will stow well.

The anchor fits well in the bow roller and after lowering it in the marina, it was winched up using the windless. Success. We have a new anchor.

Money, money, money

This week has been very expensive. This is the week when we stop researching and start buying. Its also the week when we have some maintenance work done on our house because the weather has been so good. This weeks purchases have included a lowrance plotter for in the cockpit complete with 2 new electronic charts. Our problems started when we tried to load our 'free'charts on to the laptop. Now we are not techno nerds, but we are not stupid either and the instructions on the navionics website and pc app had us climbing the walls in frustration. however, that's for another day.