Well, I can’t put it off any longer so much as it pains me to drag myself away from lovely Fort Lauderdale, today is the day when I intend to head off into the big blue yonder.
I’ve spent the last couple of days filling Odyssey with everything I can think of that I’ll need for the trip, and she’s now groaning at the seams and sitting a good inch or two lower in the water. On Wednesday I spent the morning at the local supermarket and after my first couple of trolley-loads the manager came over and asked what I was doing. When I said I was stocking up for three months at sea he very kindly allocated me my own private checkout along with two sturdy young lads to pack my boxes and take everything out to the car for me. How kind! Wish I got that sort of treatment every time I went there.
So every locker is now full of goodies, and I took the precaution of writing the contents of tins on the lids in case the labels come off at sea. I had that problem on Flogg, and although at first a lucky dip dinner can be quite exciting the dubious delights of baked pineapple chunks on toast soon begin to pale a little.
Labelling the tins
I also raided the local pharmacy and spent $300 on drugs so I’ve now got anough pills and powders to keep me going whatever happens at sea, although hopefully I won’t need them. After all that provisioning I’m amazed that Odyssey had room for it all, and there’s still space for the fresh food (fruit & veg, cheese etc) which I’ll be buying this morning.
The plan today is to buy the final bits and pieces I need and return the car to the rental office, which will be quite sad as I’ve grown rather attached to it. Never mind, Reg can buy me a new one when I get back to England 😉
Then I’ll have lunch on board and double-check that I’ve remembered everything before finally casting off and leaving Beach Villas for the last time. I hope to be well offshore and probably out of sight by land by nightfall, which is around 9pm local time.
Hopefully all the technology will work and I’ll be able to send regular position report, probably around midday GMT every day, and the trip to Bermuda should take five to seven days. However don’t fret if you hear nothing from me for a while as I may well press all the wrong buttons and break everything. If that’s the case then I’ll update the site when I reach Bermuda, so don’t send out the search parties just yet!
So, it’s goodbye from me for now – be good while I’m gone 🙂