Gran Vida's Great Half-Looped Adventure: Just when you think you're there....

Summer 2014

Details, details, details. The crunch is on. We have less than a month to go until our decided upon departure date (August 16th) and between backordered supplies; nasty rocks getting in our way while out for a simple afternoon cruise (yep, we were out of the channel!! DON'T go there!); a nasty infection (me, gotta love antibiotics); and making a gazillion decisions regarding dinghies, fridges, extended health insurance, cell/internet coverage, etc. etc. etc; well, it's been a busy month. We're chomping at the bit to get going.

For those who may follow in our wake, here's what we've decided:

Internet: we're planning on using Verison pay as you go once we get to the States, using my old iPhone 4 as a hotspot. I am on Rogers now but will "unlock" the phone and switch over. (Change of plans: Verison said NoNo. I can't use my unlocked iPhone as it has to be a "Verison Device". So my phone will no longer work as of Sept 1st. I've scoped out a few Verison stores just over the border in Michigan that look to be an easy walk/bike ride from a dock. I'll go buy myself some sort of "Version device" and hook us up to the internet then). Jeff will keep his phone/text plan with Bell (he's had it for eternity and it's cheap). I can be reached through Jeff's number as well. We'll see how this goes and make adjustments as necessary.
Extended health: we used kanetix, an online insurance comparison site, and came up with PC travel insurance as the most economical (a quick visit to Service Ontario got us an extension on our OHIP to cover us past the usual six months while we're out of the province. The extended insurance is just to bridge the difference between the cost of medical services in the U.S. and OHIP coverage in Canada).
The old AC/DC fridge on our boat was looong gone before we bought the boat and we just had a little AC bar fridge to use while we're plugged in. Once we unplug from the dock we use coolers, which is okay, but gets annoying after awhile (picture random food item floating in old water). After some consumer research we chose a Nova Kool AC/DC fridge (Canadian made) which was just the right size to fit our cutout. Harumph, it was backordered for an eternity (well, ok, a month). We finally, yesterday, personally picked up from the wholesaler a beeeautiful AC/DC fridge, smaller than we wanted but will do just fine and actually has a bigger freezer space than the original fridge we ordered. I LOVE my new fridge. Mwa, mwa, mwa to my new fridge. Yeah!!! Not living out of a cooler any more!!!
We decided to go big or go home on the dingy. My kijiji-king sold off our Boston Whaler dinghy that came with the boat and we have a new, beeeeautiful, Highlander 9.6 inflatable dinghy, with a double alumunium bottom, and a 9.9+ two-stroke yamaha outboard (with a kit on the carborator to make it acutally more like a 15) and davit system on order. Should be here the first week of August. We can hardly wait!! Arrrgh. (update: we just picked up our outboard to use with a borrowed dinghy until ours comes in. We can fly!!! Whoo-hoo!!)

Between dealing with the mundane details required while casting off a shore life, the bay continues to beckon. We've been getting out there as much as we can: from quick evening swims, to overnights in local anchorages, to soaking up family time, to several-day "4-2" escapes here and there. Despite the overwhelming details involved, the priority is still to just get out there! Here's some pics from the summer so far.

TeePee point

Evie and Nan. Taking it home.

Family fun time!
Stalled for a bit in a narrow rock lined channel
and then later nicked a rock.
All in the pouring rain.
Sooo much drama! Sooo exciting!