Setting off on the high seas

Well hopefully the seas aren't too high!  We believe we are getting close to casting off the very grungy dock lines here in Las Palmas and heading for the warm weather to the west.  The winds have not been typical for this time of year with strong south easterly winds, when steady north east winds are the norm.  But we are excited to see that the forecast is looking good starting Tuesday for the north east winds to return.

Our amazing Australian friends, Jeff and Sandra, have just settled their beautiful boat for a little respite.  They will move aboard Maple on Sunday for as long as it takes for us to cross the big blue to Barbados.  We are so fortunate to have them as crew for the crossing.  Super excited to get more sleep!!!

We have all of our grocery provisions on board and will do our fruit and veg purchase on Monday.  All the lockers and bilges are completely full so it will be fun to find room for the fresh food.  Maple is already sitting very low on her water line.

If you are interested in following us while we are out there, we will send position updates via our SSB radio when we can.  We will try to connect regularly but can't guarantee how often we will be able to update our position.  Don't panic if you don't see any change in our position for a few days.  To follow our route, you can find us at this link:

https://cms.winlink.org:444/maps/PositionReports.aspx?callsign=VE7SVM&title=Position%20Reports%20for%20VE7SVM

We believe we might leave on Wednesday, January 11th if the forecast holds up.  We are excited to get under way and are looking forward to warm waters again and of course the rum!!!