Since arriving back from Tobago, Jason and John have been focused on getting the last necessary bits checked off the list for departure to Carriacou in the Grenadines. We had initially planned to leave Thursday, but with a couple of final touches still waiting on parts or time, we’ve settled on a tentative Saturday shove-off.

I spent the majority of the day yesterday researching and planning provisions lists and cabinet organization spreadsheets, while John and Jason shopped for boat parts and pieced together the final touches on the Aries wind vane setup. Jason also did some fiberglass work to fix a stanchion on the starboard side that had been damaged when the boat was hauled out in early 2009.

This morning John and I made our way to Price Smart, which is like a Costco, with an extensive shopping list mounted on a Kindle. We managed to do a large part of the provisioning there, but I fear I definitely have another trip to the grocery store in my future tomorrow. Fresh stuff at Price Smart was all from Canada, meaning it’s probably 2 weeks old and won’t last long. I am looking to get some fresh local produce from the “veggie lady” who comes to TTSA every Tuesday and Friday morning, and get basic condiments in less-than-a-gallon quantities from the HiLo down the road—BBQ Sauce, soy for sushi, salt, etc.

All the long-distance sailor wisdom I’ve read has said that on passage it’s key to be able to cook some bread on board so you can have sandwiches, toast, etc, so I’ve downloaded some recipes for pressure-cooker and stove-top bread, and I’ll be experimenting with my wheat, yeast and seawater in the coming weeks. Wish me luck. Those of you who know me well know I have not exactly been gifted in the kitchen dept. However, I have had a string of successes down here so far, so maybe I can keep pulling up the average. If you can learn to cook on a boat, you should certainly be able to cook anywhere else, right?

The afternoon was spent putting the spreadsheets into action and indexing the contents of every cabinet on the boat (not yet complete), as well as inventorying all food quantities, so I can keep track of usage and figure more closely what we’ll need for our trip across the Pacific. The experts say you should always plan for food to cover you for 150% of the expected length of your sail, so upon departure from Galapagos, we’ll be provisioning for a minimum of 6 weeks. Marquesas are said to be slim on provisions though, so we may go somewhat heavier than that. I have no clue where it’s all supposed to fit.

In order to prevent a cockroach infestation, we removed all the cardboard packaging from the items we bought, and transferred that food into freezer bags. Cardboard and boats don’t mix. I’ll have to pick up bay leaves at the store tomorrow to stop weevils in our pasta and rice as well. All bug-prone produce will get dipped overboard in salt water for 5 minutes to kill off bugs, then dried and put away. It’s a lot to think about.

John’s working on heading to his doctor’s office at 6 a.m. in order to secure a place in line to get antibiotics and pain pills to supplement our med kit. We’ll be taking Kijro out for a test run with all the new sails on Thursday or Friday, and after that we should be close to ready. Not sure how Internet will be after leaving Trini, but we’ll be sure to get to all the deets from my teaser entry before we go.