The Prep, Volume 1

It seems that buying the boat may have been the easy part.  Now we need to get prepared to actually go.  Preparing to be away for up to six months is like wrestling a beast with 1,000 tentacles. We have so many to-do lists that we need a list to keep track of all of them.

How to close up the "dirt" house  for up to 6 months: 

This list seems to grow every time we look at it................

• Lawn care arrangements.
• Mail handling
• Security measures
• Utilities 
• Volunteer caretakers
• Insurance questions
• Canceling subscriptions
• Financial matters
• Thermostat settings
• Alarm batteries
• What to unplug/shut off 
• Exterior lighting
• Interior lighting
• Services to suspend or cancel
• Neighbors to notify.
• Preparing cars for long-term storage 

Lists of what to take:

Our sellers left the boat fairly well equipped, God bless 'em), but ........

• We still have long lists of galley gear, towels and bedding to gather.  
• As 20+-year boaters, we have favorite deck, safety, and bridge gear to take.  
• As long-term Loop Dreamers, we have acquired a library of books, charts, and publications that must be sorted and selected.  
• Wade MUST have his tools (and tools, and tools, and tools, ad nauseum)
• Admiral Maggie, of course, has her own unique equipment requirements (How many stuffed dog toys to take, anyway?)  
• Commodore Kathleen is majorly stressed about what clothes to take,  (This despite the fact that several Loopers have told us that the one thing they took too much of was clothes.).
• What personal technologies do we need?
• And ......
• And......

And the clock is running............

ONLY the beginning.......