OK, now that we have agreed on a boat and a price…it’s starting to feel like a reality. Before we were so tied up in wedding “stuff” that we couldn’t really even think about it. That, and the fact that we were kind of freaking out about the costs associated with an unplanned wedding where we had been socking everything away for the trip. This one is only about a week longer than our last trip, but it’s going to cost almost twice as much I think. Costs have gone up, the dollar has gone down. Bad timing all around.
Oh Well. To Quote Bertuzzi…”It is what it is.” Chip?
Now we start to make lists. Lists and instructions for our live in critter-sitter. Lists of things we need to remember to take. Like insect repellant. I remember that mosquito and Kirk and their all night war. I don’t need to relive that…although it was rather funny from my perspective…except for the lack of sleep thing…
I finally settled on a new Navigational software package that works on the Mac. There are relatively few out there, and the ones I’ve found certainly aren’t as fully featured as what we had for the PC. But it will do. It does what it needs to…it loads the right charts, it records a track, it talks to our GPS unit either by bluetooth or by cable (thankfully! THAT took some doing and a driver hack by some kind soul in cyberspace). We can plot courses and measure distances and directions. No bells and whistles, but it does the basic necessary tasks.
I was a bit concerned that I wouldn’t have the Mac up and running with equivalents for everything we are used to, but I think I have pretty much all the bases covered now. About the only program I wasn’t able to replicate was Streets and Trips, although there is a program out there called Route Buddy that does the same thing, but at a higher cost. Odd since absolutely everything else I have bought for the Mac is cheaper than its PC equivalent. usually a LOT cheaper! And usually a LOT better software too! If I decide we need road maps…I might buy it…but really…we are traveling by water and can buy a map of any island we want to investigate by scooter.
Speaking of which, I suppose we should go and renew our international driving permits so we can rent those scooters.
Last time we went we had a dickens of a time finding spices. I’d like to pack a little spice kit…but I have to admit that I worry a little bit about customs. I suppose I could pick up some sealed packages rather than pack my own…might look a bit better if we get searched at customs. A thought….