I've heard the hardest part of a sailing trip is leaving the dock.
We're finding this to be true, especially while simultaneously catering to major kiteboarding addictions and trying to teach as much as possible to have pockets full of cash.
We just dropped $2500 on a new dinghy. A picture will follow soon. 11.5 ft Zodiac MK1 with a Mercury 25hp. It is scary fast. It planes with four dudes in it. Hopefully we can figure out a way to store it on deck partially inflated.
In addition to that major purchase, we're dropping cash on GPS units, a submersible radio, auxillary running lights, pimpin' batteries, spare oilcans, spare watercans, a surfboard, bottom paint, and so forth.
Fortunately, Fastenal provided us with $280 worth of keel bolts, and other sponsors have promised to pitch in kitegear as well.
I'd love to say more but I'm at the Newport public library and running out of my 30 minute timeslot on the public internet. It has been firing at the coast for a few days while dead in the Gorge.
The car broke down and Mac installed a new alternator on the side of the road. Meanwhile I napped and thought about the symbolic significance of the whole situation. This inspires confidence that my PIC pick was dead on. PIC means "partner in crime".
Maybe we should be getting the boat ready instead of sleeping in our clothes at the beach. Then again, if the purpose of the trip is to kite, we're already on it... just switching vessels in the near future.
Max