Sailing Kianda: And We're Off!

Dave and I are beginning another year afloat and it feels so good!

Morning from our slip at Trident Yacht Club, Gananoque, ON (click to enlarge)

Our leave request from work got the stamp of approval, our land possessions are packed in an Ottawa storage unit and the car is tucked away in a barn along with our canoe. The boat jobs and do-to list are as complete as they're going to get (though they will, of course, continue throughout the year... and basically for the rest of our lives). We're gone!

Departure date: September 15^th, 2017
Return date: End of summer 2018
Route: Maybe something like this... (see The Plan)

Level of excitement: The reality that this is happening is just starting to ~~sink in~~ settle in! We've been working like machines getting this plan to go and nearly lost sight of the prize as the preparation chores seemed endless. It was high time to move from departure pending to adventure begun!

The day before our tentative departure, the pendulum kept swinging from « We're ready!« to «We can't leave yet ». It was all over the place like :

Can't go : We found out our newly written boat insurance policy would not be honoured following hurricane Irma as insurance companies are being innundated with claims and do not want to take on new clients.

Going!: We quickly decided to carry on regardless as we trust that our boat is sound (and that, worse-case-scenario, losing her would not put us in financial ruin). The next day however, we received an email saying that our insurance coverage is actually restored (but will not cover damage due to any named storms). Good news!

Can't go: When gathering our important documents, we noticed that our boat's federal registration had expired in July and did not auto-renew because our address had not been updated since moving to Ottawa. Without registration papers, Kianda can't leave Canada. We were told we would have to reapply and that requests are handled on a first-come-first-served basis. We would have to wait.

Going! : Two hours later, Transport Canada emailed us back saying our registration is reissued! Whoa!

Can't go : Water shot out of the pump when the head was being flushed. We couldn't leave without sorting out the shituation. Someone who's not me was going to have to address this. So Dave heaved the heavy sigh of a man about to rebuilt the pump for the fourth time.

Going! : After installing the spare kit and allowing 24hrs for the caulking to cure, all test flushes were successful! The head is now functioning better than ever and may it remain this way. Let us pray.

And on it went until 3pm on Friday Sept. 15^th when we said we're done here and untied our dock lines. There are always ups and downs on a boat – it comes in waves. This isn't new to us but it's always surprising to see what will happen next! We know (#1) not to freak out too quickly because it may turn out to be nothing and (#2) when things are good, enjoy it because they can go south quickly.
In a store today we chatted with a clerk about our year onboard and I mentioned that we are three days in. Three days in! This is a special time. It's all ahead of us and the future is looking very bright. Luckily I brought my shades.