As it was now almost certain that I’d be departing on the morrow I had to make sure that I didn’t forget anything and the day was a busy one. I worked on the boat until around 10:00, then took the rental for a final drive. I had managed to put the SSB radio back in the mounting brackets, but unfortunately my extensible mirror dropped into the bilge and there was no way to get it back without disassembling part of the boat, so my first stop was a car store to get a replacement. Then I filled up on fuel and did a final run to Home Depot for plastic brackets (which they didn’t have) and some ratchets for the liferaft that Michael had given me. The liferaft is seriously out of date and would have been discarded in the dumpster, but I offer red to put it in a dumpster in the Caribbean after my voyage instead. I took a Lyft drive back from the car rental office, and the driver managed 3 wrong turns using the GPS system, despite my telling her that she should turn. After she ignored me the second time I just shut up and let her sort it out, but the 10 minute trip took 20 minutes and it certainly wasn’t due to traffic!
After returning I took my last hot sauna and shower and, because the club was having it’s annual big party which was closed to all but members I walked to a local restaurant called Elation Beer which was really busy and full and had a 4-piece band playing a very eclectic mix of music. I enjoyed a Pilsner or two and a panini bread with cheese as my last meal on land and then walked back to the boat. I read a bit and tried to get a long and full night’s sleep before the first passage day.
