Getting ready to launch!

It's that time I sometimes thought would never come: tomorrow after work I'm headed to Maryland!

Sunrise in Annapolis boatyard (Photo by Scotty)

Somehow it's already nearly a week into March and we are only days away from launching the Wind-Lass for the first time! Scotty has been in Annapolis for nearly a week, working diligently to get our new sailboat ready for our first voyage, while I work at home in Juneau.

Over the past few months Scotty and I have spent many hours planning this trip including carving out real "study" time for ourselves during the weekends at our local library.

In the library at University of Alaska Southeast (check out the whale tail!)

This part of the planning was Scotty's idea and though I dragged my feet at first ("But it's so much easier at home!") going to the library for several hours at time each Saturday or Sunday (and sometimes both) made a hugely positive difference in our ability to really be productive and focused without any distractions (no chores, kitchen trips, computer, TV, etc.).

Corner conference room at the Downtown Juneau Public Library

And when you have a view as pretty as this one, there are worse ways to spend a snowy/ rainy February afternoon. (Thanks to Juneau Public Libraries for their nice, private conference rooms!)

View of the downtown cruise ship docks in Juneau

We mapped our route on NOAA sea charts (printed at our local Marine Exchange of Alaska) and brought a stack of books to reference each time.

These included Skipper Bob's Anchorages and Skipper Bob's Marinas for the Intracoastal Waterway (these made everything SO much easier while planning and I can't recommend them enough), and the ICW Waterway Guide, which is full of useful informative narrative regarding routes, provisioning,  and town information along the way. It reminded me a lot of our Alaska Milepost guide... but for the water!

This route planning was accompanied by many hours Scotty poured over trip logs and navigational information on the Internet. He also researched vessel maintenance and repairs to troubleshoot some of the things necessary to get our salty lady ready for launching.

 "Boat captain networking"

But then, my man does this stuff for a living and really knows his stuff. :)

 One of the boats Scotty maintains at work

 

Meanwhile, I've focused my of my attention on the paperwork side of things, securing the insurance we needed, communicating with the boatyard about our plans, and taking care of travel and financial arrangements.

My planning face :/

We've also been packing...

Shipped flat rate priority- books are heavy!

 Packing in progress

Now that we're about to head out on the water, it's a dream finally coming into play after many months of planning- not to mention years of dreaming. We've both worked really hard to get this point and it feels so good to be here. Here we go!

 Me in beautiful Auke Bay, Alaska- March 3, 2013