With every endeavor there comes a time when you have to pick up the pace and the time has come for us to get seriously focused. We are scheduled to depart San Diego with the Baja-HaHa rally on October 27^th. With that date looming over our heads and our desire to get some much needed sailing time around the Channel Islands, we have decided to make a “Hit list”. What we are lovingly referring to as the “List of 27”.

The list includes 27 items that we have identified as action items needing to be completed before we leave Moss Landing. Some things on the list are small like putting a new screen on the bilge pump, carving the USCG documentation number onto the boat, and installing a smoke and carbon monoxide alarm. Other items on the list are quite large like installing the solar panels and controller, the refrigeration system, and electric windlass. Add to that the multitude of sewing projects completed and still ahead of us. The list has become our task master, our compass, our chart so to speak. Each day we pick items off the list that will coordinate well with whatever doctor appointments, laundry, etc. that happens to be going on. Those items then become the daily todo list. We eat a good breakfast and armed with our plan for the day, off we go! We spend the day fully engaged and focused on the work from the daily list until dinner or exhaustion. Whatever does not get completed gets put on the top of tomorrow’s todo list.

We have now been operating with the “List of 27” for the past five days and we have already completed 7 items, plus a few extra mini projects thrown in. While this may all sound chaotic and tiresome, it actually has made our lives much more manageable. We have even managed to host a dinner for friends onboard, get oral surgery, and deal with a mini plumbing crisis with our head. All while still getting items checked off the List.

In addition to working on projects from the List there are the final details of various insurance needs to attend to, which include life insurance, health insurance, boat insurance for foreign waters, and emergency evacuation insurance should one of us be serious injured or ill. We have been ordering supplies and equipment such as a new dinghy and motor, which is essential as it is our car when we are cruising. It is our means of transportation to shore to replenish supplies in addition to exploring beaches, towns and villages. We burn up the free wifi minutes at the local coffee shop researching products, ordering equipment, refining and retuning software systems, and catching up with friends through social media.

In the very near future “The list of 27” will dwindle down to zero and while that certainly does not mean the work will be finished, as work on a boat is never, ever finished, we will have completed what we have deemed most important for the first leg of our journey. At that point we will start preparing for departure. We will start looking for the best weather window for the trip as well as plotting our course down the coast. We will gather food supplies, top off water and fuel tanks and wait for the perfect wind wind to carry us south.

The time is getting closer. Steve and I both feel the electricity in the air. We can almost hear it crackle and sizzle while the the boat gently lulls us to sleep each night. We are excited, We are motivated, We are getting it done!