Preparations

Oct. 24, next Saturday, is the day K and I head back to Antigua and Django in English Harbour. Terry has looked in on her regularly, kept me abreast of the storms passing by and how Django has been doing resting in the weeds. K has sold her house and floated free from the grind of working to pay off the expenses. A bit mauled by the stock market, I have reduced my dependence on buy and hold dividend income and taken a more proactive stance in the markets to bring in the wherewithal. My little Acer will do double duty over the wifi links. You may be burdened with ideas on what seems a good thing from time to time and I would warn you not to take these to heart.

The first order of business is haulout, and do up the bottom. I am ordering new two blade folding props to replace the kiwiprop feathering props we have now. They are to much for Django's Volvo Penta D1-20 engines, and tend to stall in reverse; often embarrassing coming into a dock. So biting the bullet and shelling out for the new blades.

K is a great singing cook and loves to entertain guests aboard Django. Dana and Enn, her journalism mentor, will come down for a stay soon after we have completed the maintenance rituals. Not final where we will go, but Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis are high on the list of likely stops. English Harbour will be our base of operations this season.

The weather here is clear and cold, the sun too dim for sufficient vitamin D production. Take those supplements, you who must remain behind. I am looking forward to swimming and boating and soaking in the heat, not to mention the rum.