That is the sound of registers going off; if they still exist, for all the vendors we have given our dollars to. I think we’re “making it rain” at West Marine & a few other places. Yes, we did get the outboard & it’s on its way. We purchased a satellite communication device. We got extra solar. -Which is a sore spot right now. We bought an extra battery; although now we are considering getting 2 larger ones instead of 3 smaller ones. Hardware. A traducer. -Whatever that is. Containers & organizers. Netting for Zephyr. And it goes on. The thing is, is that it’s easy to spend money on our boat. It’s kind of like a fourth family member. We like to spoil her. I know, she might start feeling entitled to everything if we don’t let up soon.

**Excuse me, do you accept Monopoly money?**

Our bank accounts seem to be fine though. I guess we’re not spending money on anything else. So that is good. -Or is it? Our house & plumbing & electricity are all from 1939. Our car is circa 2001. Our kitchen is sad. -Actually, I’m just sad about our kitchen. We really don’t eat out anymore. And we haven’t traveled lately. Don’t cry for us. I know you are welling up with tears about now but we are really stoked to have MerSea.

Matt, when he was still excited about installing this for our solar panels.

So we’ve just been using our monthly budget on MerSea. Actually, now I’m starting to worry that we’re weighing her down. I did take the rice cooker off though. It makes about 2 cups of cooked rice. -1 pound lighter? I’m sure that will solve the weight problem.

However, there’s some very exciting news! We have a cockpit table now. Matt did an amazing job! He made it from a teak bath mat. It might not seem like a lot, but having something to set food on in the cockpit changes so much! Meals are something we can eat outside now & enjoy the scenery while doing so.

Provisioning of dry goods is over half-way done. -Unless we start digging into it while we are working on the boat. I continually have to get more creative about where to put everything.

There is a bit of bummer news. We got bumped back to # 5 on the waiting list for our slip. Our year long temporary permit for our spot ends on November 1st. So it’s touch & go. The thing is, we love our dock neighbors! I can’t imagine being at another place in the north harbor. Actually, I think we have the most fun dock out of all the docks in the harbor. Our ambassador boat couple, Karen & Scott, on our dock suggest popping into the Harbor Office in the next day or so to demand we keep the slip we have! Actually, they didn’t say, “demand”, we just need to go to the desk & show them how much we love our special spot in the harbor.

Even our niece, Ayla, likes our spot!

Don’t make us get a slip at Moss Landing!!

As I’m doing more & more research on our trip - so that are no stupid surprises. I got concerned about some of the anchorage depths. I checked on the paper charts & they confuse me as far as depth goes. And then checked on Navionics to see what they say the depth is. -Which made me feel a bit better. I talked to my dad.- Which made me feel even better. And I also wrote to the guys, Peter & Tom, Sailing Bohemia. They gave me a final assurance. Check them out they are awesome! https://www.youtube.com/sailingbohemia They said that 200 feet was enough for them. However, that is all chain. We have a total of 200 feet combining the chain & rope. Hopefully it will hold. Although, their boat has 6 feet on our boat. Then again our boat might be as heavy as theirs with all the stuff we have on her! We will see what happens. So far we’ve been good at holding anchor & having enough ground tackle.

**At least our anchor is larger than this.**

At this point the things that concern me the most is the rigging; MC is still waiting on a part, & the upcoming weather & if it’s going to be in our favor. Yet, these are problems all sailors have to deal with so we’ll deal. Or we won’t. I don’t think we have a choice though. -That’s what you get when you choose to be a sailor.