It started with nephew & cousin Kevin D marrying his sweetheart Natalie in FL in January, followed by Chrissy & Rick's wedding on Cinco de Mayo and Candy's daughter Kylie's graduation from Marist College. Meanwhile we managed to sneak in some sailing at IHYC (Go Easy Red!!) while Chrissy and Rick K took a serious Van trip to the Grand Canyon with plans to meet the boat in Saint Augustine. Candy embarked on her "farewell tour", trying to say au revoir to her local friends and family. She'll make a quick stop to see her Godmother Peg Hulit in FL and meet the boat in a few days.
After a few last boat projects the first stop will be Grand Caicos, then the San Blas Islands off of Panama, through the Panama Canal and a quick stop the Pearl Island (Las Perlas). Then down to Ecuador, where we leave the boat to make a side trip to Machu Picchu. Next to the Galapagos, Easter Island and Pitcairn Island.... then to the South Pacific Islands. Whew!
It's been a very busy for months for the crew, with Captain Rick busy with the marinas in Norwalk, Candy tending to her many client's taxes, and Chrissy & Rick K tying the knot, renting out their house and leaving their jobs! What a whirlwind of activity!
Next week will be a blast of final installations, shopping & provisioning, then shoe-horning everything into the boat. Watching weather windows on Windy.com and finally shoving off!
The enormity of it all has just started to sink in... it will be an emotional week.
