Wednesday 9 April 2008

McQ -Bloggety - blog

Well folks, things are all starting to happen quite quickly. Can you believe there is only one night of sleeping in a large flat bed left??
Wee Berri is fully laden and there is still more to go on board!!! We really will need to draw the line somewhere: but deciding between bacon/beer/computer/diesel/thermals/charts is just an impossible decision- we want it all!!!
Our navigation system is definitely in order: we have Pascals 'map', an inflatable globe, a really ancient book with some pictures of German Isochrones and a sextant (and fortunately, real charts, GPS, and 3 computers too!!!)
I am trying to get all my paperwork together, I must not forget my old passport with my US Visa in it!! or my Polar Bear shooting license either (which I have discovered is the only reason why Alex is taking me as crew- silly him, I may have a certificate but that doesn't mean I would be particularly useful in a face-to-face bear situation!!!)
Its raining, still. It would have been wonderful to have left in the sunshine but it looks as though it is still going to be raining tomorrow...
I can hardly believe that over in the UK its been snowing heavily- in April- its completely mad. It really makes you consider how crazy the world weather is becoming. We can all agree that the world is getting warmer and the ice is receding rapidly over the years but, who knows what will happen if we get up to Alaska in the next few months: we may have an unusually clear passage through, but, equally this could be a year where there will be no chance of making any progress through the NW passage. Of course, this is all a long long way away, and we must take the whole trip one step at a time. (The first step, of course, is getting further north than Coffs!!!) There are so many if's and buts and each stage of the journey will be a small achievement...
I really, really hope that luck is on our side for this one, and can't quite believe that we are going tomorrow!!
Lots of love to all and Happy Birthday Seymour
x